HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka)
Subject: Re: Is MAZDA a Japanese word?
Organization: University of Western Australia
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 12:28:47 GMT

ntetsuya@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Nishimura) writes:

>>I've never heard of any relation with Zoroasterism;
>				       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>		I don't know if this is true or not, but I have heard that 
>		their truks sell well in the regions where they have 
>		Zoroasterism.

>		Anyone?

>						Tetsuya Nishimura

Mazda comes from the God of Light in Zoroasterism, which sounds
reasonably close to the founder's lastname Matsuda. I am rather
curious how Mr. Matsuda got "Mazda" from. Long time ago, before
GE and Sylvania start making light bulbs, there was a light
bulb sold under the trade mark of "Edison Mazda" in the US.
(circa 1905-1915 something like that). Probably Mr. Matsuda
saw it when he was young, disovered what Mazda means, and
used it for the name of his motor company when they started
exporting vehicles overseas.  By the way, I heard that
Toyo Mazda Motor Company changed its name in Japan. At least
their dealers now post huge signs Efini (E has a tilde and
the word should be pronounced with a nasal vowel like Portuguese.)
Anfini but no Mazda.  Is it true?

K Ohtsuka
.
From: davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: An open letter to the Emperor Akihito of Japa
Date: 26 Aug 92 15:01:33 GMT
Organization: Aegis Society, Kyoto Japan

yunson@lpf.umd.edu (Yunson Du) writes:

>Dave McLane said:

>>Yesterday, I summarized what has been said recently here for the
>>benefit of the 15 members of discussion group I lead in Osaka. They
>>pointed out that ITHO (In Their Humble Opinion) the Emperor is going
>>to China at the request of the current Chinese governent. Further,
>>they said that the original entry of the JIA into China was at the
>>request of the then rebel, now current communistic government in
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>order to defeat the nationalists. 

>>They continued by saying that, as is well known, the JIA got out of
>>hand and committed many atrocities upon Chinese civilians. Exactly
>>how many and where is open to question, but they felt that it was a
>>fact that it happened. 

>Really? Could you give us some supporting evidences? I think many
>people from Mainland China will be very interested in that. 

Sorry, but I can't provide anything at the moment as people who said
that only meet once a week. I'll get back with a reply next week. 

Dave

--
Dave McLane 
JUNET: davidg@aegis.or.jp (ONLY within Japan: post otherwise)
Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087



Xref: sparky soc.culture.japan:7299 soc.culture.china:23907 soc.culture.hongkong:10136 soc.culture.taiwan:12390
From: hnkst2+@pitt.edu (Hanhwe N Kim)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.china,soc.culture.hongkong,soc.culture.taiwan
Subject: What did Akihito do during the war
Date: 25 Aug 92 19:55:36 GMT
Followup-To: soc.culture.japan
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

Just a quick question:
I heard that Akihito is around 70, which makes him in his
early 20's by the 1940's. What did he do during the war and
afterwards?
-Han Kim
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: d-itasak@nmit.mt.nec.co.jp (Daisaku Itasaka)
Subject: Re: Festivals and holidays?
Organization: NEC Microcomputer Technology Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
Distribution: world 
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1992 00:46:28 GMT

In article <1992Aug24.081031.15930@uqvax.cc.uq.oz.au>
	ccloretta@uqvax.cc.uq.oz.au writes:

>What are the popular festivals/holidays celebrated in Japan -
>I have heard of kodomo no hi - are there any others?

Here we go!

National holidays in Japan.

	Jan  1  -- gantan
	    15  -- seijin no hi
	Feb 11  -- kenkoku kinen no hi
	Mar 21  -- shunbun no hi
	Apr 29  -- midori no hi
	May  3  -- kempou kinen bi
	     4  -- kokumin no kyuujitsu
	     5  -- kodomo no hi
	Sep 15  -- keirou no hi
	    23  -- shuubun no hi
	Oct 10  -- taiiku no hi
	Nov  3  -- bunka no hi
	    23  -- kinrou kansha no hi
	Dec 23  -- tennou tanjou bi

Not natinal holidays, but celebrations

	Mar  3  -- hina matsuri
	Jul  7  -- tanabata
	Nov 15  -- shichi go san

And you can never forget the most important one

	Mar 18  -- my birthday :-)

-- 
A wrong guy in a wrong place at wrong time...
						 Daisaku Itasaka
				      d-itasak@nmit.mt.nec.co.jp
				NEC Microcomputer Technology Ltd.
From: pascal@apd.cpg.sony.co.jp (Pascal Goguey)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: telephones again
Date: 1 Sep 92 08:29:50 GMT
Distribution: soc.culture.japan
Organization: Sony Corporation,Communication Products Group Audio Products
	Div,Atsugi,Japan.


	Hi!

	Just one thing about phones : In his post, Alton Harkcom writes :
	"I don't remember about international access, but I seem to recall
having to ask for it."
	You don't have to ask anything. You just have to dial. Don't worry !
The international phone company (KDD for some areas) will send you the bill.
--
  Pascal Goguey  Sony Corporation  ($@GC9%7Z(J  $@8d7](J)
  Communication Products Group Audio Products Div
  Atsugi TEC, Japan

  Aucun homme n'est jamais assez fort pour ce calcul.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.china,soc.history
From: jwb@capek.rdt.monash.edu.au (Jim Breen)
Subject: Re: US colonializing (Was: An open letter to the Emperor Akihito of Japan)
Organization: Monash University, Melb., Australia.
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 03:25:05 GMT

miklg@acuson.com (Michael Goldman ) writes:

>jwb@capek.rdt.monash.edu.au (Jim Breen) writes:

>>It was busy at the time snatching colonies off Spain: (Philipines, Cuba, ...)

>	You realize, do you not, that this will result in a 27-part series on
>	the Open-Door policy, the Spanish-American War, and the US Civil
>	War?  I'm sorry sirrah, that it must come to this, but you leave
>	me no choice!   :-)

What a good thing I didn't add "..and annexing independant neighbours, like Hawaii."

-- 
Jim Breen                           JIS:$B%8%`!!%V%j!<%s(J
Department of Robotics & Digital Technology. Monash University. 
PO Box 197 Caulfield East VIC 3145 Australia (ph) +61 3 573 2552 
(fax) +61 3 573 2345  AARNet/Internet:jwb@capek.rdt.monash.edu.au  
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: TOGE@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (Nobukazu Toge)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: History of Japan's Military Excursions in China
Date: 28 Aug 92 08:58:38 GMT
Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Jim -

I may be mistaken, but my understanding of what Dave McLane said is
that there *were* Japanese (many? I don't know) who *said* *back* *then*
that Japan was invited by some Chinese to "advance" (it's the word by
those Japanese, not mine) into the continent.

For example, almost any puppet government is set up that way, no?
The word "invite" in this context is a very, very rhetorical one,
or, "bull-shitty" if you like.

If you try to find materials that would substantiate that -MANY- Chinese
wanted Japanese to come, I would imagine that will be very, very hard.

If you look for evidence that -SOME- Chinese at certain positions would've
benefited from the Japanese and hence welcome such a move, that would
be very easy.  Look at some documents regarding Manchu-guo (and I believe
the Japanese did set up another puppet government somewhere else, too...
was that around Hebei... I'm not sure, but it was a one led by Duan QiRui
[sp??]).

Of course, I am not saying that because of some such Chinese people,
it should have been ok for the Japanese to invade.  That's a totally
different issue.
- Nobu Toge (My opinions are only mine, unless shared by someone else).
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: doi@jrd.dec.com (Hitoshi Doi =?ISO-2022-JP?B?GyRCRVowZj9OO1YbKEI=?= )
Subject: pro baseball 1992.09.02
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=ISO-2022-JP
X-Phone-Reply-To: 045-336-5358 (work)/045-320-0492 (home) [in Japan]
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Japan, R&D center
Mime-Version: 1.0
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 03:54:48 GMT
X-Mts: smtp

The LIONS defeated the Buffaloes 22-0!
In the most lopsided game in Pacific League history, Kiyohara (29th),
Akiyama (27th), and Destrade (30th) hit homeruns and Kaku (12-4)
pitched a shutout to defeat the second place Buffaloes.  Akiyama
drove in 7 runs, Tomashino drove in 4, and Kiyohara drove in 3.
Nomo (11-7) started the game for the Buffaloes, but lasted only
2 innings and gave up 6 runs.
Destrade now has hit 30 or more homeruns in 4 consecutive years.

Bryant (Buffaloes)	30
Destrade (Lions)	30
Kiyohara (Lions)	29
Takahashi (Blue Wave)	28
Akiyama (Lions)		27
Winters (Fighters)	26
Boomer (Hawks)		24
Ishii (Buffaloes)	23

Lions		65 - 35 - 2	....	.278	3.42
Buffaloes	53 - 41 - 6	 9.0	.244	3.96
Fighters	47 - 54 - 2	18.5	.260	4.01
Blue Wave	45 - 54 - 4	19.5	.272	3.80
Hawks		45 - 56 - 1	20.5	.262	4.58
Marines		44 - 59 - 1	22.5	.243	3.96

The Lions magic number is now 21.

Ikeyama hit a homerun in the bottom of the 9th inning as the Swallows
defeated the Giants 4-3.  Furuta (20th), Hirosawa (19th), and
Ikeyama (24th) hit homeruns off of Makihara who only gave up 5 hits.
Nishimura (12-9) gave up 11 hits but the Komada went 0 for 4 and
Hara went 0 for 5.

Swallows	57 - 44		....	.265	3.76
Tigers		56 - 49 - 1	 3.0	.249	2.94
Giants		57 - 51		 3.5	.264	3.62
Carp		53 - 50		 5.0	.262	3.50
Whales		48 - 58 - 1	11.5	.244	3.90
Dragons		43 - 62		16.0	.253	3.92

batting
-------
O'Malley (Tigers)	.324
Maeda (Carp)		.320
Komada (Giants)		.319

hr
--
Howell (Swallows)	25
Ikeyama (Swallows)	24
Hara (Giants)		23
Komada (Giants)		23
Furuta (Swallows)	20
Sheets (Whales)		20
Yagi (Tigers)		20

rbi
---
Sheets (Whales)		76
Hirosawa (Swallows)	75
Paciorek (Tigers)	74

sb
--
Takagi (Whales)		23
Iida (Swallows)		22
Nomura (Carp)		17

--
Hitoshi Doi, International Open Systems Engineering        doi@jrd.dec.com
Japan Research and Development Center               decwrl!jrd.dec.com!doi
Digital Equipment Corporation Japan                     doi@decvax.dec.com
From: harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: What do most of Japanese think of Korean (Re: An open letter..)
Date: 26 Aug 92 04:09:24 GMT
	<1992Aug25.021025.17849@physics.ucla.edu> <2489@aegis.or.jp>
Organization: Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
In-reply-to: davidg@aegis.or.jp's message of 25 Aug 92 16:09:11 GMT

In article <2489@aegis.or.jp> davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane) writes:

 =} Some people duck, and it goes over their head;
 =} other people take it head on and get angry....

   And lets not forget those who catch it, and hand it back to the
person who threw it with the polite request to not throw it at them
again...
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.china,soc.history
From: shi6@chaos.uchicago.edu (Sheldon Shi)
Subject: Re: An open letter to the Emperor Akihito of Japa
Organization: University of Chicago
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 17:29:22 GMT

In article <1992Sep1.154906.2273@island.COM> fester@island.COM (Mike Fester) writes:
>In article <1992Aug31.013550.27483@tamsun.tamu.edu> x0y3510@tamuts.tamu.edu (Xuejun Yang) writes:
>>In article <1992Aug30.153704.6253@acuson.com> miklg@acuson.com (Michael Goldman ) writes:
>>>smittie@beach.csulb.edu (Smittie) writes:
>>>
>>>	made in the US and the UK to order of the combatants.  By the end
>>>	of the US Civil War the US had the best Army and largest Navy in the
>>>	world, and at any time after that could have carved out whatever
>>>	piece of China she had a desire for.  If Japan could get terrtorial
>>>	concessions from China in the 1890s certainly the US could have as well
>>>	had she wanted them.  That she chose not to could be due to a number
>>>	of reasons, but military inability seems hard to credit.
>
>>You forgot the most important factor:logistics. What is the distance between
>>the US and China and Japan and China. I am sure the U.S. was even
>>stronger after WWII and what happened to the U.S. in Korea and Vietnam.
>
>What did distance have to do with it? We did fairly well in Japan and Europe,
>we got what we set out for in Korea, and recently did rather well in the 
>middle east. The difference between those and Vietnam was that we never had
>any set goal in that country. Kind of hard to fight, if your top people can't
>decide what you're fighting, what you're fighting for, and why.
>
>Mike
>-- 
>Disclaimer - I'm only doing what the little voices tell me to do. 

1. US didn't have the best army and navy by the end of the Civil War.
US didn't become a superpower until the turn of the century.

2. It was too late for US to get a piece of China after the Civil War.
The NE belonged to Russia and Japan. The South and SW belonged to
Britain and France, the East part belonged to Britain and German.
These colonists wouldn't be happy if they found US got a piece of pie
too.

3. US didn't have a base to fight at China. Britain had India, France
had SE Asia, Japan had itself, etc. When did US have Hawaii?

4. US did have a goal in vietnam: to get rid of Communism. You may not know it
or want to admit it.

From: ajeans@hplred.HP.COM (Albert Jeans)
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 14:59:40 GMT
Subject: Short Term Volunteer Work
Organization: Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan

Let's say I want to go to Japan for 2-3 weeks but I don't want to be tourist. 
I'd rather interact with Japanese doing something. As an English speaker with a
strong technical background, are there any opportunities to do volunteer work
in Japan?
From: tony2@prefect.uucp (21131-gozdz)
Subject: Re: for the short term traveller in Japan
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 92 12:08:35 GMT

In article <1992Aug31.191722.26288@hamblin.math.byu.edu> luke@wombat.ee.byu.edu (David Luke) writes:
>
                            [stuff deleted]

>If you're bring a large sum of money, you might consider a wire transfer.
>Of course, this requires accounts at banks in both countries.  Transfers
>Japan -> US run about Y4500, which is around $36.  TC cost around 1% to buy,
                                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>so for amounts larger than $3600, a transfer is cheaper.  And saves having to
>sign dozens of TC twice each.
>
                            [stuff deleted]

For those who drive (who doesn't...?): the AAA membership allows you to
buy AmEx TC's for free. Why pay?

Tony
From: thomas@aic.co.jp (Thomas Johannsen)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: for the short term traveller in Japan
Date: 1 Sep 92 08:54:45 GMT
	<1992Aug27.010027.24211@westford.ccur.com>
	<1992Aug31.191722.26288@hamblin.math.byu.edu>
Organization: Advanced Intelligent Communication Systems Lab.,Sendai,Japan
In-reply-to: luke@wombat.ee.byu.edu's message of 31 Aug 92 04:17:26 GMT

In article <1992Aug31.191722.26288@hamblin.math.byu.edu> luke@wombat.ee.byu.edu (David Luke) writes:

 > The moral of the story is: TC give you about Y2/$ better rates -- for every
 > dollar you change, you get two extra yen (or, the other way, every dollar
 > costs you Y2 less).  Banks in Tokyo are slightly better than those at Narita
 > for cash $ -> Y.  And avoid the exchanges at LAX!  It costs you 5-10 yen/
 > dollar, which is 4% to 8% you're losing.
 > 
 > If you're bring a large sum of money, you might consider a wire transfer.
 > Of course, this requires accounts at banks in both countries.  Transfers
 > Japan -> US run about Y4500, which is around $36.  TC cost around 1% to buy,
 > so for amounts larger than $3600, a transfer is cheaper.  And saves having to
 > sign dozens of TC twice each.
 > 


Does somebody has similiar experience with Europe? I'm particulary interested
in Deutsche Mark and Italian Lira. Better to change them here or there? Better
to take cash / TC or do a bank transfer?

Thanks for any replies,

Thomas

Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: japlady@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Rebecca Radnor)
Subject: Re: Flowers to Tokyo
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 19:30:49 GMT


Based on my own limited experiences, and I'm pretty sure I've written about
this before, sending flowers in Japan is not the simplitic act it is here.
This partially explains why it is not done half as often.  In a country
where flower arranging is considered high art, the choice of flowers and
arrangement all have meaning.  My Japanese friends suggested that if I must
send flowers I should go to a reputable shop in the Gina, or one attatched
to any major hotel (such as the imperial) or department store chain,
explain to them my relationship with the giftee and what I wanted the
flowers to represent.  I would then negotiate the amount spent, write an
appropriate card and allow them to do the rest.

The one thing I learned was NEVER NEVER send anything with roots.  (My
mother prefers Flowering plants because they last longer so I had suggested
it to the flower lady who immediatly went into shock.  My friends the
Yanase's immediatly explained why this was a major no-no.)  Roots (in
Japanese symology) = death.
-- 
Rebecca Radnor                \\ I know everything,
NU Anthroplogy Department     \\ I know nothing
JAP= Jewish.American.Princess \\ I used to put sticks under the back porch 
     & Japan specialist	      \\      and wait for them to petrify.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: smittie@beach.csulb.edu (Smittie)
Subject: Re: Smell of Food (Was: What do most of Japanese ...)
Organization: Cal State Long Beach
	<1992Aug25.033206.1970@u.washington.edu><2490@aegis.or.jp>
	<HARKCOM.92Aug27081434@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 18:00:58 GMT

>   IMO, the 'smell' of food is a subjective thing.  When walking or
>biking through my neighbourhood here in Japan I smell cooking just as
>I would back home (ie. neither 'smells' more than the other).

Good and bad smells with regard to food is extremely subjective. There are not
a whole lot of Japanese foods that smell good to me. My wife thinks they all
smell great. To say that "Japanese food doesn't smell *as much as* food in some
other countries" is wholly and utterly subjective.

smittie


-- 
___________________________________________________________________________
GEnie, MCI, AOL:Smittie | If all of us were as smart as we think we are the
smittie@beach.csulb.edu |  current world problems would be yesterday's news.
________________________|___________________________________________________
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: asano@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (ASANO Yoshiteru)
Subject: question on George Friedman
Summary: Inquiry about an author of a book Coming War with Japan
Keywords: inquiry, author of Coming War with Japan
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 05:28:23 GMT

Hello, everyone.
The organization I belong (Japanese Students Assoc. at Boulder) is planning 
to invite Mr. (Dr. or whatever) George Friedman (or Ms. Meredith Lebard) who
is an author of a book "Coming War with Japan" to have a lecture.  I wander
where they are (I mean, if they are in academic world, where are they teach?).
If you have any info on these authors, please e-mail me at asano@ucsu.Colorado.
edu.
  Yoroshiku onegai itashi masu (Thanks in advance).
     yoshi
From: harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: savings accounts
Date: 1 Sep 92 23:48:29 GMT
Organization: Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
In-reply-to: TY.A62@isumvs.iastate.edu's message of 1 Sep 92 01:00:01 GMT

In article <1992Sep1.010001.17940@news.iastate.edu> TY.A62@isumvs.iastate.edu
   (jeffrey cross) writes:

 =}    I have read that Japanese post offices offer tax-free saving accounts
 =}    which pay slightly higher interest rates than commercial banks.  Is the
 =}    average interest difference between the two large?

   The tax and interest on most accounts will not be different enough to
be significant.  For any account of less than 3 million yen (I think) there
is no tax.  The interest rates on savings accounts are very low and there is
almost no difference between the banks and post office in this respect.

 =}    Does the banking
 =}    counter at the post office offer other services such as converting yen
 =}    to $ and electronically transferring it to a U.S.  financial
 =}    institution?

   The post office does offer a few services that banks don't, but I don't
think the one you mention is one of them.

   Banks also offer services that post offices don't.  Banks also let you
access your money for more hours per day than the post offices usually do.
Of course banks suck up service charges at these times...

 =}    When opening a savings account in Japan is it necessary to
 =}    have a 'han' (personal seal in kanji) or is a signature sufficient?

   A signature is usually sufficient (some small banks won't handle one
though).  A cheap hanko can be made in the US (1cm wide by 1.5cm high
should be small enough) of your name or initials if you want to use one.
For renting apartments and such, one can get a "touroku inkan".  I
described this in a previous post but here's a summary:

	Your name can be in English characters or Japanese characters.
	For Japanese characters one must get a "tuushoumei" on their
		alien registration of the selected characters.
	Just take the inkan and alien registration to the city office
		(shiyakusho/kuyakusho) and register the inkan.
	Apply for a "touroku inkan shoumeisho" when you need one.  I think
		this costs 150 yen a pop, but I've already forgotten...
From: davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Phobia (was Re: The Russo-Japanese War (part 2))
Date: 29 Aug 92 21:26:32 GMT
Organization: Aegis Society, Kyoto Japan

cmr@world.std.com (Charles M Richmond) writes:

>Just to clarify a few things. "Homophobia" does not appear to have been
>used prior to 1969 ands its only use has been to describe fear/hatred of
>homosexuals. Xenophobia or "ic"  has been in use since 1903 (xenophobe 1915) 
>and refers to fear/hatred of strangers. Notice that the dates of first
>use are not that far apart. These are both fairly new words.

>Someone who never leaves their home culture and is phobic of that culture
>would probably be called misanthropic or anti-social, depending on the
>strength of the feeling. Persons who visit another culture and then shun
>members of their own culture do not as yet seem to have their own word.
>They should!

One slang (and probably not widely used) term for such people in
Kyoto is 'culture-vulture'. They come here from various countries
and do their best to become traditional Japanese. IMHO there are
probably more in Kyoto than Kobe or Osaka (and Tokyo, I would imagine)
as Kyoto is famous for it's traditional Japanese events, crafts, etc.

Unfortunately some/many(?) of them are disappointed as they are
haven't been many (any?) who have been accepted as 100% pure,
traditional, Japanese. This can be the source of emotional anguish
after having put so much energy into the project. Some just go away,
some go away bitter forever, some stay and adjust to how things are,
some stay and complain, and so on.

Dave

--
Dave McLane 
JUNET: davidg@aegis.or.jp (ONLY within Japan: post otherwise)
Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087