HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: x0y3510@tamuts.tamu.edu (Xuejun Yang)
Subject: Re: An open letter to the Emperor Akihito of Japa
Organization: ~/lib/organization
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 01:35:50 GMT

In article <1992Aug30.153704.6253@acuson.com> miklg@acuson.com (Michael Goldman ) writes:
>smittie@beach.csulb.edu (Smittie) writes:
>
>>The US wanted free trade with China because the US did not have the fire power
>>nor the resources to crave out its own piece of China. By trying to force the
>>"Open Door" policy, the US hoped to circumvent the advantages of Imperialism.
>
>	I have seen this argument before, and it is hard for me to understand.
>	The US was far superior in industrial and military capacity to Japan
>	at the time Japan was grabbing its sphere of influence in the 1890's.
>	In fact, the Russo-Japanese War was largely fought with war ships
>	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.
>
>	- Michael Goldman
>
>-- 
>"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have
>exhausted all other alternatives." - Abba Eban
>	Disclaimer:  All views are solely my own & not the views of Acuson.
>	<sun!sono!miklg>  or  [miklg@acuson.com]
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.


Xref: sparky soc.culture.japan:7326 soc.culture.china:23946 soc.culture.hongkong:10151 soc.culture.taiwan:12406
From: davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Smell of Food (Was: What do most of Japanese ...)
Date: 28 Aug 92 01:54:15 GMT
Organization: Aegis Society, Kyoto Japan

smittie@beach.csulb.edu (Smittie) writes:

>>   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.

I agree completely that whether or not something smells "good" is
subjective and what smells good to one person will not smell good to
another. 

But I think there is a difference in how far the smell of any
subjective value carries. Perhaps not, but the people I talk with
who were born and brought up in Japan and who have lived in other
countries seem to agree.  One in particular runs a cooking school
and travels outside of Japan to get different receipies, spices, etc. 

However, maybe the smell of the particular food somebody likes
registers, and the smell of other food is discarded as noise. Only
an idea... 

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
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 14:54:20 GMT
Organization: Aegis Society, Kyoto Japan

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

>davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane) writes:

>>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 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. 

>A strange opinion, and one which reflects poorly on the post-war
Japanese education system. 

Not to uphold post-war Japanese educational system but one person is
a long-time naval history buff and has read who know how many books
on the subject as he felt he wasn't getting the real stuff at
school. I will ask him for references. 

>There is no evidence from the pre-war period of such a call by the Chinese 
>communists for help. If anything, the truth was the opposite, when the Kuomintang
>and the communists split up in the 20s, the emerging nationalist leadership were
>not averse to encouraging the Japanese, by now well entrenched in Manchuria, into
>attacking the communists at every opportunity.

No to doubt you, but I think it's hard to prove your point with no
evidence. 

>A disinterested study of the history of that area  leads one, IMHO, to the
>inescapable conclusion that the Japanese oligarchy was hell-bent on "intruding" on
>China from before the Sino-Japanese war of the 1890s, and that the "Peking Incident"
>was just one of the many manufactured precedents to provide justification.

Since you are claiming inescable conclusions based on history, would
you supply us some references? 

Please note: THIS IS NOT A FLAME (tm). It's just that when I read
words like 'disinterested' and 'inescapable' conclusions my curious
mind wants more information :-)

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
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: jwb@capek.rdt.monash.edu.au (Jim Breen)
Subject: Re: An open letter to the Emperor Akihito of Japa
Organization: Monash University, Melb., Australia.
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 23:45:06 GMT

davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane) writes:

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

>No to doubt you, but I think it's hard to prove your point with no
>evidence. 

>>A disinterested study of the history of that area  leads one, IMHO, to the
>>inescapable conclusion that the Japanese oligarchy was hell-bent on "intruding" on
>>China from before the Sino-Japanese war of the 1890s, and that the "Peking Incident"
>>was just one of the many manufactured precedents to provide justification.

>Since you are claiming inescable conclusions based on history, would
>you supply us some references? 

>Please note: THIS IS NOT A FLAME (tm). It's just that when I read
>words like 'disinterested' and 'inescapable' conclusions my curious
>mind wants more information :-)

I'll try, but it will take a while. I have a few histories at home, but I have read
pretty widely on the topic in the last 10 years, and it will take some time to
track down sources. I notice quite a bit emerging in other postings on this thread.

-- 
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: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: Opening the rice market
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 15:39:13 GMT

In article <7138@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com> blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert) writes:

>Frozen sushi? My God! Can anyone in Japan tell us about the quality of
>the "Sushi Boy" chain? I'll have to try this at home, because sometimes
>we're at a loss with what to do with "left-over" raw fish and sushi rice,
>so we proceed to stuff ourselves to the gills. 

Of course, this is a trivial topic, so I thought I'd jump right in. First, 
tuna, routinely frozen BEFORE it ever reaches Japan (special flash-freeze 
process, requiring large amounts of dry ice). Does anyone know of any other 
fish that is frozen prior to use in sushi?

Second, you ain't tasted nothin', yet. A friend in Japan took me to a place in
Shibuya which served (are you ready?) TOFU-SUSHI. Yep, fish on tofu, held in 
place by a band of nori. Talk about new frontiers in bad food :-(. (My wife
still refuses to believe there is such a thing). In any event, frozen sushi
could not POSSIBLY be worse than that.

>Some things freeze better than others and maintain their quality. The raw
>fish may not be so bad, but I would think the rice might be adversely 
>affected in texture. I also don't quite understand the economy in this.
>As far as the fish is concerned, yes, but Japanese varieties of rice
>grown in the US are not so cheap that the shipping costs would still make
>the economics of doing this viable.

Actually, it might. The cost of rice in Japan is fairly high, as is beef, as
are potatoEs (note the "e" :-)) etc, which is one reason MacDonald's ships
forzen foods over there. In the Sovie..., er, Russia, beef and dairy products
from Russia itself are used.

>Not that I'm a total disbeliever, but something doesn't seem quite right
>unless labor costs are also a significant factor in the equation.

I believe it actually might be just the cost of rice, with a contribution 
from the cost of fish. Also, this is probably just the "order a bunch of sushi
for Y1,200" variety, so a little freezing is hardly noticeable.

Mike
-- 
Disclaimer - I'm only doing what the little voices tell me to do.
From: henryc@panix.com (Henry Chan)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: What do most of Japanese think of Korean (Re: An open letter..)
Date: 23 Aug 92 16:06:20 GMT
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix & Internet, NYC

In article <2454@aegis.or.jp> davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane) writes:

nitpick msg.
t
>For further reference, here in the Kansai there are three sub-divisions
>of 'gaijin':
>
>	futsu gaijin	just off the boat, don't know anything about Japan
>
>	henna gaijin	"strange" gaijin: can use chopsticks, can
> 			speak Japanese better than many native
>			speakers, know more history than many natives,
>			disliked by many people because of this
>
>	kawai gaijin	"scary" gaijin, likes to seduce Japanese 
        ^^^^^
Don't you mean kowaii?  I'll be happy if strange women came up to me and called
me a kawaii gaijin.  (^-^)




-- 
My friends, we can and we will, never, never, surrender to what is right.
--Dan Qualye speaking to Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition.
From: htakeda@Bonnie.ICS.UCI.EDU
Subject: relationships.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Date: 27 Aug 92 02:42:40 GMT


Hi I;m currently going out with a female caucasian.  I was wondering.
If and when we get married I want to live in Japan for some years.
She says that se
she will stand by my side all the way.  But what are some of the
problems that she will face.  I am Japanese and would like to
know what she will fan
face in the future.  Any other people out there in a similar
situation please tell me of your experiences of a male (japanese,
or for that matter asian) and female (caucasian) relationship in
Japan.  Thanks.
===============================================================
htakeda@bonnie.ics.uci.edu

HIRO "The HAB" Takeda
GO Montreal Canadiens, Kokudo Keikaku Bunnies, Taiyo Whales,
Montreal Expos, and the Dallas Cowboys.
UC Irvine, Electrical and Comp. Engin., Info. and Comp. Science.
"What good is a used up world and how can it be worth having?"
ALL THIS TIME - STING
===============================================================
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: Japanese Things
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 16:59:01 GMT

In article <HARKCOM.92Aug25080349@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp> harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom) writes:

>   There are now some discount liquor stores and discount brand
>goods stores in Japan.  The liquor stores sell only by the case at
>fantastically low prices.  At first they had a lot of trouble with
>suppliers trying to force them to raise prices by threatening to stop
>supplying them, but they survived and are now thriving.  The brand
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>goods shops have no trouble with suppliers as the deal with imports.
>Some of their prices are as much as half off the 'normal' Japanese
>price...  They achieve this by getting the large purchase discounts
>themselves and then not making the ridiculously high mark ups that
>other stores do, thus they sell much more.
>
>   According to recent documentaries on these 'new' discount shops,
>the sales figures are outstanding.  Customers love the savings that
>can be achieved by buying in large quantities.  The programs all
>pretty much said that the number of such stores is likely to grow.

Reminds me of a "documentary' I saw when I lived there. TV Asahi was doing a 
special on one of the first guys to do this. His store was in Chiba, and he
talked for a while about how big his business had gotten. He then said that 
he'd gotten threats from his distributors (they'd cut him off if he continued).
He eventually had to use distributors farther and farther away. Just as he
started to explain how he was being threatened by THESE distributors, the 
screen went dead, and TV Asahi experienced "technical difficulties" for the 
remainder of the program.

Hey, *I* thought it was funny.

Also, in repsonse to the "Toys R Us" challenge, many of the smaller stores are
forming cooperatives to buy toys from the manufacturers at large discounts.
They seem to be doing well.

Mike
-- 
Disclaimer - These opiini^H^H damn! ^H^H ^Q ^[ .... :w  :q  :wq  :wq! ^d  X ^?
exit X Q  ^C ^? :quitbye  CtrlAltDel   ~~q  :~q  logout  save/quit :!QUIT
^[zz ^[ZZZZZZ ^H  man vi ^@  ^L  ^[c  ^# ^E ^X ^I ^T ? help  helpquit ^D  ^d 
man help ^C ^c help exit ?Quit ?q CtrlShftDel "Hey, what does this button d..."
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: smittie@beach.csulb.edu (Smittie)
Subject: Re: What did Akihito do during the war
Organization: Cal State Long Beach
	<5149@blue.cis.pitt.edu.UUCP>
	<1992Aug30.124345.6018@usage.csd.unsw.OZ.AU>
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 18:39:21 GMT

>He was born in 1933, so at 1940 he was 16 or 17.

Uhm, looks to me like 1940 minus 1933 equals 7. Thus, as has been previously
mentioned Akihito turned 7 years old in 1940.

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.
________________________|___________________________________________________
From: lindaa@info.Berkeley.EDU (Linda Absher)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Why the Fascination?
Date: 29 Aug 1992 06:04:52 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: info.berkeley.edu

I'm probably asking for more e-mail than I care for, but I wanted insights
as to why some men are fascinated by Eurasian/Amerasian women?  I am a
34-year old, "hafu" (half-Japanese) woman, married, and I live a very 
normal life.  I consider myself average looking (certainly not an exotic
"Anna May Wong"-kind of siren), yet ever since my undergraduate days, I
have come to recognize a certain type I response I get once certain men
realize I am Eurasian, and it has cause me no end of uncertainty and 
alarm.  I don't ooze sexuality, but I have noticed that spark of interest
once they figure out my background.

With Caucasian men I find it even more disconcerting; at this point I can
spot the ones who've guessed by ethnic background: they're the ones who
start a casual conversation and work up to the inevitable question:  "so
what are you?"  Once I admit I'm Eurasian, a relationship soley based on
friendship seems impossible.

I've have the same kinds of encounters with Japanese men (or Asian men in
general), but they have been much fewer.  I have the impression Japanese
men have some conflicting feelings about background, but I've never asked.

I'm not looking for sympathy (I suspect I won't get much!), but being new
to the newsgroup, I believe this is the perfect opportunity to ask a 
question I've been harboring for years....

 
-- 
   $  Linda Absher		$ "You can't drink champagne $
   $  lindaa@info.Berkeley.EDU	$  out of a paper cup..."    $
   $				$    -Linc, "The Mod Squad"  $
From: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Any Japanese Pussy Available?
Date: 31 Aug 92 21:47:49 GMT
Reply-To: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Organization: Horizon Research

In article <1992Aug31.205823.651@ms.uky.edu>, justin@mik.uky.edu (Justin
Sullivan) writes:
=> Linda Absher writes
=> > In article <1992Aug31.031359.12423@ccu.umanitoba.ca>  
=> umsalte2@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Mystery) writes:
=> > >
=> > >
=> > >I really need a virgin Japanese, hightec cunt!!!!!!
=> > >
=> > 
=> > I find this little comment unbelievably offensive...
=> > 
=> > Go away.....
=> 
=> Amen.. Small wonder orientals call Westerners 'barbarians.'

Err.... Please don't feed the animals. Thank you.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: cmr@world.std.com (Charles M Richmond)
Subject: Re: Opening the rice market
Organization: Integrated International Systems Corp. One Longfellow Place, Suite 3309, Boston, Ma.
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 20:52:59 GMT

blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert) writes:

>Frozen sushi? My God! Can anyone in Japan tell us about the quality of
>the "Sushi Boy" chain? I'll have to try this at home, because sometimes
>we're at a loss with what to do with "left-over" raw fish and sushi rice,
>so we proceed to stuff ourselves to the gills. 

>- Bill Lambert


I have found that leftover sashimi and sushi make a great fish stew!

Use everything , sea urchin $B3$C@(J , tuna $BKn(J , all of the
different fish $B5{Fy(J , the white radishes $BBg:,(J , etc.

Cook it all up with cut up potatoes and other veggies, add some wine
(white) and enjoy.

Charlie

P.S. If I used the wrong words would someone please correct me.


-- 
*****************************************************************************
*  Charles Richmond 	Integrated International Systems Corporation        *
*  cmr@world.std.com	(Temporary) cmr@chiechan.mro4.dec.com		    *
*  Specializing in UNIX, X, Image Processing, and Communications.           *
From: harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: telephones again
Date: 3 Sep 92 23:06:48 GMT
	<1992Sep2.035108.14502@omrongw.wg.omron.co.jp>
	<HARKCOM.92Sep3083305@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp>
	<1992Sep3.035007.19899@cbfsb.cb.att.com>
Organization: Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
In-reply-to: wa2ise@cbnewsb.cb.att.com's message of 3 Sep 92 03:50:07 GMT

In article <1992Sep3.035007.19899@cbfsb.cb.att.com> wa2ise@cbnewsb.cb.att.com
   (robert.f.casey) writes:

 =}If NTT doesn't issue some sort of certificate for the kanyuuken, and it is
 =}possible to buy a used kanyuuken, how do you know that it is a real one,
 =}and not a forgery?  What identifies it to NTT?  How do you (and they)
 =}verify its reality?

   Good question.  NTT manages all of the kanyuuken.  The keep records
of who has one.  A transfer of a kanyuuken is done through NTT not through
the passing of any document.  So there is no room for forgery (except by
NTT employees).  Of course if NTT's records are destroyed then there
might possibly be one heck of a big mess to clean up...
Xref: sparky soc.culture.japan:7653 soc.culture.china:24650 soc.history:8014
From: mhs@ukc.ac.uk (M.H.Smith)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.china,soc.history
Subject: Re: US colonializing (Was: An open letter to the Emperor Akihito of Japan)
Date: 3 Sep 92 10:54:45 GMT
Reply-To: mhs@ukc.ac.uk (M.H.Smith)
Organization: Electronic Engineering Lab, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.


In article <1992Sep2.155658.10211@acuson.com> miklg@acuson.com 
(Michael Goldman ) writes of the US anexation of Hawaii:
   Roosevelt actually saw a war coming with Germany before Japan, but
   he believed, as did most people at the time, that with industrial
   production outstipping consumption, that every industrialized nation
   needed industrially undeveloped markets, though not necessarily as
   part of an empire.  The US could not rely on the peaceful intentions
   of other powers.

Didn't the Japanese use similar arguments to justify their little
shindig in China, South-East Asia, the Pacific etc. Why is it that some
Americans don the rose-tinted spectacles when it comes to the less
savoury parts of US history?

Malcolm Smith
From: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Toto Washolet
Date: 3 Sep 92 16:48:52 GMT
Reply-To: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Organization: Horizon Research

In article <37587@sdcc12.ucsd.edu>, djohnson@cs.ucsd.edu 
(Darin Johnson) writes:
=> My interest is now piqued.  What the heck is a washolet toilet seat,
=> and why is it so special that one would consider going through the
=> hassle of bringing back as a gift?

I believe it was Mitch Sako who made the original inquiry about
the toilet seats. I've seen them advertised for sale in the US
edition of the Yomiuri Shimbun.

Err.... my in-laws have such a device in their home. The latest
and the greatest, with all the bells and whistles. This is a
contraption that straddles a regular toilet bowl, and has a
toilet seat as part of it. The one I'm intimately familiar with
has a control panel hanging off the right side of it, with a
bunch of LED type displays. From the control panel, you can do
the following:

	* Start a water stream that will wash the err, rear
	side of your anatomy.

	* Start a water stream that will wash the err, frontal
	parts in that same area.

	* Adjust the position of the water spray for either front
	or back washing modes, to hit the right spot, shall we say.
	
	* Engage a "circular" spray mode that can cover larger
	areas, such as found on many westerners.

	* Start an air dryer that will dry both front and rear.

	* Control the temperature of the water spray, the air,
	or the seat (the seat contains heated water, a nice touch
	in the winter for Japanese home without central heating).

It also can remember settings for different users, and for some as
yet unknown reason, has a remote control. We figured this was good
for playing jokes on O-Jii-Chan by changing the water temperature
to the coldest setting while he was doing his thing. I didn't try
it though.

My understanding is that this miracle of modern technology was an
evolutionary step from the mere heated toilet seat which became
popular because it was thought that many old folks had heart attacks
when sitting on a freezing toilet in the winter. After you get
electricity and water customarily attached to toilet seats, it's
then but a small step to make it "user friendly", and just everyone
has got to have it!

I been thinking of getting one, just to get my wife with the remote....
just once!

- Bill Lambert