|
Koramei posted:Is knowledge of the specialty products of every prefecture actually incredibly common knowledge in Japan? I've lived in the US for years now and I couldn't say poo poo about what 9/10ths the country produces. _______ lobster _______ crabcakes _______ potatoes _______-style pizza _______ orange juice _______ po'boys/gumbo/etc. _______ bourbon I had a conversation about this with a friend recently and we realized you generally know more than you realize. Chalk up the rest to Japan being a pretty food-obsessed culture.
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 05:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 10:21 |
|
|
Some older folks I knew there would complain about regional foods being available in other regions, and available out of season. It makes them less special. Yeah, I'd say people are pretty serious about local food. Also my town having a squid festival and squid song and dance contest every year.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 05:27
|
|
|
CronoGamer posted:_______ lobster All bourbon technically comes from Bourbon County, Kentucky. The rest is just whiskey that tastes similar. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 05:31
|
|
|
Cliff Racer posted:All bourbon technically comes from Bourbon County, Kentucky. The rest is just whiskey that tastes similar. Yeah, i think most people who know bourbon know that, similar to champagne only coming from the Champagne region of France. But it's still fair to call it Kentucky bourbon, isn't it?
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 05:44
|
|
|
Reverend Cheddar posted:For instance, and because this is what Japanese farmers are making GBS threads themselves over when it comes to TPP: rice. I keep hoping rice can't be excluded and is a deal breaker for Japan. The IP provisions that have been pushed by US corps are ridiculous. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership_Intellectual_Property_Provisions shrike82 posted:I can honestly say that given the option between a US cut-to-the-bone business operation and a Japanese one with layers of redundancy, I'd pick the latter any day as a societal model. Here's an anecdote, it is part bureaucracy and redundancy. When you renew your visa status you need a tax form from the city saying you are paid on local taxes. I went and asked for it and paid. The guy that served me walked over to an island of desks and asked a lady to print my form. The lady printed it, looked over it and stamped it. Then the guy turned around and showed it to a lady behind him. She looked over it and stamped it. Then he walked 4ft and showed it to an older guy with his own desk and he looked and stamped it. Then the guy brought it to me and finally he stamped it and handed it to me. We generally just call this governmental bureaucracy (synonymous with redundant) but even businesses have this same kind of thing. That reminds me though. A big reason Japan is still paper based is because people love to stamp poo poo here. ==== Edit: Anyone remember me talking about the DARPA robot project BIGDOG? It can throw cinder blocks now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jvLalY6ubc Watch out ASIMO. Kenishi fucked around with this message at 06:43 on Mar 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 06:17
|
|
|
Kenishi posted:
Oh yeah, they love the stamps. They're more official than signatures here, even for individuals. I mean, look at this.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 07:46
|
|
|
There's nothing better than the look of stupefied wonder you get when you whip out your hanko to sign for a package. Mine is my first name in Roman letters, people wig the gently caress out. "Can you do that? I'm not sure that's legal."
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 09:33
|
|
|
I've had my coworkers be blown away by the fact that I do such mundane things as pay taxes and am enrolled in kenko hoken. Our employer takes care of all this poo poo for us, so it's not even like I could opt out if I wanted to (or knew how). I work and thus I pay taxes, how is that in any way surprising? I can't tell if people here really are that daft or if it's all one gigantic joke starting with chopstick usage and just working its way from there. I know that they don't really learn critical thinking skills in school here but goddamn, sometimes it just leaves me at a loss for words.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 09:46
|
|
|
"Foreigners come to Japan to make money and spoil the women. Then they go vvvvvvv did you hear a whooshing sound above you as you read this post? Weatherman fucked around with this message at 10:12 on Mar 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 09:51
|
|
|
Weatherman posted:"Foreigners come to Japan to make money and spoil the women. Then they go Is this true? I know expats still have to pay US income tax on their overseas earnings.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 09:59
|
|
|
I don't know what you're talking about Weatherman. Obviously the rest of your statement checked out 100% so pentyne just wanted to make sure about that tax thing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 10:27
|
|
|
Weatherman posted:a shed load of meiwaku Whuh? "Wikipedia posted:1772 (Meiwa 9): At the time, it was said that "Meiwa 9 is Year of Trouble" because it was marked by an extraordinary succession of natural calamities. The pun was made linking the words "Meiwa" + "ku" (meaning "Meiwa 9") and the sound-alike word "meiwaku" (meaning "misfortune" or "annoyance").[5] Does it really just mean like 'trouble'?
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 10:28
|
|
|
Required reading for any US citizens working abroad as a resident alien. The short version is that you're on the hook for any taxes on income in your country of residence, but if you meet the requirements, you can exclude up $95,000 of your 2012 foreign income for purposes of filing your US tax returns.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 10:30
|
|
|
Bloodnose posted:Does it really just mean like 'trouble'? Yes, with the sense that you are burdening other people with it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 10:38
|
|
|
CronoGamer posted:I don't know what you're talking about Weatherman. Obviously the rest of your statement checked out 100% so pentyne just wanted to make sure about that tax thing. He was being sarcastic. Lots of Japanese people seem to believe that foreigners don't pay taxes even if they're working here, rather that they are literally just parasites here to take jobs and women and create crime and then leave halfu kids and AIDS when they inevitably go back to their home countries.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 10:43
|
|
|
Is this the rarely seen counter-counter sarcasm? I can't tell who's on what page now.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 10:54
|
|
|
アメリカンジョーク。
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 11:01
|
|
|
CronoGamer posted:Is this the rarely seen counter-counter sarcasm? I can't tell who's on what page now. The not paying tax thing I thought could be an actual complaint. I don't know Japanese laws for foreigners and local tax laws but I thought it might have been an actual reason to complain. Everything else sounded like typical xenophobic bullshit.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 11:10
|
|
|
The tax exemption thing is actually not only reciprocal - it applies to Japanese citizens working in America as well - but also only applies to teachers and professors working at accredited institutions. This also ignores the fact that there are ~190 other countries in the world whose citizens are not covered by this treaty and thus not exempt from taxes in Japan. But every foreigner who isn't Asian is American anyways, so let's read on!quote:ARTICLE 19 Students and trainees are also exempt, again, reciprocally, for a period of five years (article 20). The only way you could hate on the exemption is if you dislike reciprocal tax agreements for some obscure reason. Treaty text here. Sheep fucked around with this message at 11:38 on Mar 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 11:34
|
|
|
Sheep posted:The tax exemption thing is actually not only reciprocal - it applies to Japanese citizens working in America as well - but also only applies to teachers and professors working at accredited institutions. This also ignores the fact that there are ~190 other countries in the world whose citizens are not covered by this treaty and thus not exempt from taxes in Japan. But every foreigner who isn't Asian is American anyways, so let's read on! As for hanko, it's my understanding that the typical sort of "name in katakana" stamps aren't technically legally binding as they're not complex enough for an expert to recognise the wear pattern as belonging to a specific hanko. However, no-one actually cares about that in practical terms - I've used a katakana hanko on all sorts of contracts, and so has my wife. The biggest issue is that as a foreigner you're not going to be able to buy one of the hanko at your local 100 yen shop as your name is too rare. Kenishi posted:Here's an anecdote, it is part bureaucracy and redundancy.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 13:59
|
|
|
ookiimarukochan posted:Other countries don't make you pay tax if you're a citizen of that country but non-resident, so they don't NEED a reciprocal treaty. You kind of missed the point. Japanese students, trainees, and educators are exempt from federal income taxes for two (or five) years while in America (and vice versa). The rest of the treaty does cover double taxation (among various other issues) but that's not even something we are discussing. We're discussing "foreigners in Japan don't pay tax!!!" which is almost a complete non-issue given how few foreigners here actually qualify for the exemption, which again, also applies to Japanese in America, which kind of negates any right to get pissed at foreigners about it unless they simply have issues with the fundamental idea of tax treaties altogether. I think you got tripped up where I mentioned the other countries of the world. Japanese people tend to think "foreigners = American" or "foreigners = English speakers" and I was taking a jab at that (frankly ridiculous) world view. Sorry for the confusion. Sheep fucked around with this message at 14:15 on Mar 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 14:11
|
|
|
Bloodnose posted:Whuh? "Meiwaku" is, here, 迷惑, yeah. It's a really common word for 'trouble,' as in 'causing trouble for someone.' It's one of those words like shouganai that many foreigners here pick up pretty quickly. That said I'm not really sure if you are being sarcastic or not  Also throwing my hat in the ring for "Japanese people being surprised I do/am capable of the most basic tasks imaginable." "You eat curry!?" "You can cook!?" "You have a train pass!?" "You can read Japanese!?" (I even get this one from people who know I do translation work.) As for the "Foreigner=American" thing, there is a t-shirt out there that just says (in Japanese) "I am not an American."
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 16:47
|
|
|
So here's something worth discussing: local news this morning is reporting that another guy died yesterday in an ambulance after being denied entry to over ten different hospitals. This article in particular isn't up so instead here's a link to one that examines the problem of hospitals refusing entry to patients in general, citing an average of one in six patients being refused. I've noticed this myself, and especially at night it can be difficult to find a doctor. In my city of half a million we have exactly one hospital open past 9pm, and they have only two doctors available. I've been told off for not calling ahead and making an appointment at 4am despite the fact that I (likely) had dysentery and couldn't much have predicted it or anything. Anyways, I can't help but wonder if this situation is a product of the "oh I have a runny nose, better go to the clinic/hospital!" culture. I also wonder if there actually are that many people laid up in hospitals that they just refuse people all the time or if the myth (if it looks difficult they make up an excuse so as not to have a death ruin their statistics) is actually true. Edit: found an interesting paper at nih.gov about Japanese healthcare for those not familiar. The article mentions the low number of staff at actual hospitals, which makes sense - you can't throw a stone here without hitting 2-3 private practices. I also noticed they didn't mention the fact that, as far as I know, residency periods are not required for new doctors - you can go straight from textbooks to practicing solo if you're up for it, which is kind of a scary prospect. Sheep fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Mar 5, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2013 22:49
|
|
|
About a decade ago I did some undergraduate research into understaffing and related problems at hospitals (ended up catching bronchitis in my study abroad year and got interested in the healthcare system), and the condensed version is that the financial rewards of opening a private practice as a specialist in an urban area are so large that there is a shortage of generalists nationwide, and an even more massive shortage in rural and semi-rural areas. This is compounded by a lack of actual space in rural hospitals to house patients who need extended care. This means that many of those hospitals are only capable of maintaining a minimal staff outside of normal operating hours, and would be caring for more patients with the same number of nurses if they expanded capacity. More recently I've heard rumblings about pushing for reforms to how the KKH handles payouts to favor practices that keep costs down, but that wouldn't do much to ameliorate the structural and societal issues that are putting pressure on the system in the first place.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2013 23:42
|
|
|
Here's another article about patients being refused admittance. Synposis: 75 year old guy calls emergency services, states that he's having trouble breathing. Ambulance comes and collects him at 11:25pm on January 6th, tries 25 different hospitals in eastern Saitama and Ibaraki prefectures, and is refused admittance a total of 36 times for reasons such as "no beds are available" and "treatment difficulty [ie it looks difficult]". Two hours after the ambulance collected him, a hospital in Ibaraki agrees to see him, but basically confirm that he has already died [in the ambulance]. He was still able to speak when the ambulance arrived at his residence but his condition deteriorated during the two hours and ten minutes spent looking for a hospital [resulting in his eventual death]. The city where he lived has requested that emergency patients be more readily admitted to area hospitals. Edit: cleaned up translation a bit. Sheep fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Mar 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2013 03:20
|
|
|
I once went to the ER at night with breathing problems brought on by my moldy apartment in the winter, and sure enough, it was closed. I was rather incredulous to see an ER just closed for the night. A security guy directed me to the hospital that was open, a few miles away. On the way there through my breathing improved and I went home.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2013 03:22
|
|
|
Samurai Sanders posted:I once went to the ER at night with breathing problems brought on by my moldy apartment in the winter, and sure enough, it was closed. I was rather incredulous to see an ER just closed for the night. A security guy directed me to the hospital that was open, a few miles away. On the way there through my breathing improved and I went home. This brings up a good point. Is there anyway to find out which hospitals maintain open ERs 24/7? Probably something one should know if there's a problem.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2013 03:35
|
|
|
A town I lived in actually sent me an informational booklet (in Japanese only, of course) with tons of useful information about nearby hospitals, government offices, waste disposal regulations and contact info for large items, etc. The local city/town hall should also have tons of pamphlets available. Granted, the smallest place I ever lived had a population of 120,000, so I don't know what it's like way out in the williwags.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2013 03:40
|
|
|
75 year old guy's story has made the English press as well.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2013 06:13
|
|
|
z0glin Warchief posted:"You can cook!?" To be fair, this is probably more related to you being a man than you being a foreigner.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2013 09:56
|
|
|
Regarding the Japanese medical community, the manga Team Medical Dragon has a ton of explanations and comments from the author about his contempt for the condition of the Japanese medical system. It works a lot like the corporate structure, where age trumps talent, and in cases of medical mistakes the head doctor responsible will usually have one of this subordinates take the blame and resign. Many of the chapters have a 1-2 page editorial that explains the context of the plot to the uninformed. The vast majority of hospitals are 'teaching hospitals' and the experience required to move from intern to doctor is approx. 1/5 of that of the US medical system. Most US interns will be a part of 40+ surgeries before moving up, while in Japan it's 10 or so. There are quite a few anime/manga that address this, going back to the late 70s. Black Jack was written by a former surgeon who was so disgusted with the politics and bureaucracy he quit and took up a career as a manga author, writing a manga that eviscerated the conventional medical establishment for their rigidity and incompetence.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2013 10:37
|
|
|
pentyne posted:There are quite a few anime/manga that address this, going back to the late 70s. Black Jack was written by a former surgeon who was so disgusted with the politics and bureaucracy he quit and took up a career as a manga author, writing a manga that eviscerated the conventional medical establishment for their rigidity and incompetence. Aside from all of the wacky manga surgeon antics that happens in Black Jack, I love when it just takes a look at the medical establishment itself. I've never read very much into Tezuka's biography, but it doesn't surprise me to learn that his career change was motivated out of personal disagreements. Kind of like Graham Chapman, who got his MD and then went into comedy.
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2013 13:05
|
|
|
According to some of the comments of those news articles, the ambulance crews aren't medically trained either. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2013 20:03
|
|
|
z0glin Warchief posted:"Meiwaku" is, here, 迷惑, yeah. It's a really common word for 'trouble,' as in 'causing trouble for someone.' It's one of those words like shouganai that many foreigners here pick up pretty quickly. We like to make fun of people who calls things "PINKU BENTO" instead of a lunch box.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 04:16
|
|
|
caberham posted:We like to make fun of people who calls things "PINKU BENTO" instead of a lunch box. With four kotobas, that's Japanese for compartments  In other Japan news, they just had their first same-sex marriage in Tokyo, uh, sorta! I've been trying to find something about it on 2ch to put up some unfiltered Japanese reactions, but god the layout just kills me every time I go to the site. I did get a laugh to see that the top thread on their LBGT forum was literally "GAY SPERGS THREAD" though.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 05:23
|
|
|
"Having a ceremony" is nothing near equal to "having a state-recognized marriage". They had a ceremony at Disneyland (telling, that) but they're just as unmarried as they were before according to the people down at city hall. They'll probably use the adoption loophole though, provided they even know that it exists. I found this thread on 2ch discussing it, bonus ASCII cock picture in post 37! Edit2: haha complete with fake generic white guy priest! Wouldn't be a true Japanese marriage without one. 
Sheep fucked around with this message at 07:37 on Mar 7, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 07:21
|
|
|
Yeah I knew it wasn't an official one, hence the 'sorta'. They both knew it was just for show. Some of the xenophobia on the 2ch thread is non-surprising yet bewildering at the same time. Yeeeah I dunno how many foreigners are that eager to get fake-gay-married in Japan, even if it's for a work visa. Never say never, but still.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 08:03
|
|
|
Kenishi posted:When you renew your visa status you need a tax form from the city saying you are paid on local taxes. I went and asked for it and paid. The guy that served me walked over to an island of desks and asked a lady to print my form. The lady printed it, looked over it and stamped it. Then the guy turned around and showed it to a lady behind him. She looked over it and stamped it. Then he walked 4ft and showed it to an older guy with his own desk and he looked and stamped it. Then the guy brought it to me and finally he stamped it and handed it to me. We generally just call this governmental bureaucracy (synonymous with redundant) but even businesses have this same kind of thing. Things like this are simply to share the blame if something goes bad. I have a friend who did Six Sigma projects back in the States, it's like a kind of quality-control thing which eliminates waste and anything that doesn't bring consumer value or something along those lines. He did it for years and worked on big projects that saved companies tons of money. Wife is Japanese and they have a young kid, so they decide to move to Japan and give her the experience in living in a different culture. He's been struggling to find work here, when he explains the philosophy of Six Sigma to people they all just seem to give him the same reaction, "seems like that would make a lot of jobs redundant, huh?". He tries to hammer the idea that SS isn't about cutting jobs but making them more efficient, but he just can't convince companies to let him start and work on projects. Even recruiters he's in contact with seem to accept that most Japanese businesses would be scared of such ideas, even if they make perfect sense for company productivity. It's like, everyone knows there's a problem and there's tons of unnecessary workforce being used inefficiently, but no one wants to even think about changing the status quo. Instead you get things like the Olympus scandal where they hide debts by making fake deals with shadow companies. poo poo's going to come down hard someday, and probably sooner than later.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 08:30
|
|
|
Sheep posted:They had a ceremony at Disneyland (telling, that) The mouse has turned marriage into a profitable business, plenty of people get for-real married at the various resorts. quote:Wife is Japanese and they have a young kid, so they decide to move to Japan and give her the experience in living in a different culture. Cliff Racer fucked around with this message at 09:16 on Mar 7, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 09:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 10:21 |
|
|
Original_Z posted:Things like this are simply to share the blame if something goes bad. I can see how  . Suppliers? Must insist on Japanese. Clients? Japanese only, because only they will appreciate our high quality (true) products. Machinery? Japanese of course! After-work entertainment? Duh, what else but KTV (it's Japanese)? Even when you present a case of a cheaper supplier, if it's non Japanese, the answer will always be no. A very closed and rigid old boys network. To their credit, the stuff they make is nicely engineered and their clients don't mind paying extra for Japanese. It's only recently after the earthquake and island fiasco have their books been hit really hard. Like exporting their prized kobe beef, selling to foreigners is a national shame  Hard head mentality, yes but that doesn't mean they are stone cold zen samuraii. Sure, people like to go by the book, but if you can subversively change the rule book then they will follow you without them knowing! All bosses love making money and the ones I know implement 6S.That's really odd about your friend. The Japanese manufacturing partners I work with love systems, orderly procedures and engineering. The 5S is enforced - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5S_(methodology). Everything in a factory has to be neat, tidy, and orderly. And they also implement "Kanban" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanban (billboards to facilitate just in time production). Lots of modern manufacturing techniques came out from the Japanese power houses during the 80's and was a shining model for other factories to follow. I'm surprised that manufacturing is so sluggish in Japan. Look at Canon, they don't even allow chairs and have messages on the ground (if you don't walk faster, the world will burn). Sorry for the Danny Choo link http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/19639/Canon+Electronics.html
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 10:55
|
|