HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: Japanese Customs (not Immigration)
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 18:58:51 GMT

In article <18q4trINNof4@uniwa.uwa.edu.au> keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka) writes:
>igbird.hri.com.hri.com>
>NNTP-Posting-Host: wapsy.psy.uwa.oz.au
>
>I don't think it matters whether you dress casually or spiffy.
>They are looking at people's behavior rather than their attire.
>A friend of mine believe that his moustache was the cause of
>a spontaneous search of his baggage because it didn't happen
>before without a moustache. I have a moustache and dress very
>casually when I fly but I was never asked to open my suitcase
>in the past 20 years, except one time when I came back with
>an empty ATA specification computer transport box. The Customs
>officer wanted to verify if it was indeed empty. I can certainly
>understand that. How many travelers come home with an empty
>transport case?  

I wore a beard, t-shirts, tennis shoes, etc, was from San Francisco, etc, and
I never had any problem. 'course, I always talked to the customs officials
(in Japanese) asking them if I had to declare this bottle of wine, how about 
this poster, etc. They get bored and tell me to leave.

>In another occasion, I went to Metropolitan Police Headquaters
>in Tokyo to get a police certificate on the day when the Chinese
>Premier (Butcher of Students in Tienanmen Square) came to Japan.
>Right wingers were protesting against the head of PRC government
>and the police was on full alert. I was stopped by every single
>cop and being inquired a reason for a visit during a short trip
>from the outer gate of the headquaters to the lobby. I don't
>dress up just to get a police certificate, you see. I was lucky
>they didn't ask my opinion about the Chinese visitor. If I said
>I consider him as a murderer and a persona nongrata to Japan, they 
>might wanted to keep me a while to be on a safer side.  :)

I was in Tokyo during Hirohito's funeral and Akihito's coronation; the Tokyo
police restricted all traffic into Tokyo for more than a week before each 
event, and in both the funeral and coronation processions, the police line
was 3 deep, outnumbering spectators by a fairly large %.

Mike
-- 
Disclaimer - I'm only doing what the little voices tell me to do. 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: justin@mik.uky.edu (justin sullivan)
Subject: Re: An open letter to the Emperor Akihito of Japa
    <1992Sep1.151055.1544@island.COM> <1992Sep1.184243.24410@tamsun.tamu.edu> 
    <1992Sep3.162242.2922@island.COM>
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1992 07:06:02 GMT

In <1992Sep3.162242.2922@island.COM> fester@island.COM (Mike Fester) writes:

>Actually, I believe the French were kicked out of Indochina first, and they
>at some point found the necessary resources to carve out a part of China at
>one time.

>Mike

Are you surprised? Don't forget the terrific job they did in Algeria, though.
*I'M* almost surprised they haven't been kicked out of Paris by the other
europeans..
Man, can you imagine people so arrogant that they're proud when they just
lay down and let the first person who comes along take over their country?
Like they say: "The French can only do two things well: cook and surrender."
Don't forget that they sell weapons to the enemies of their allies, either..
From: harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: telephones again
Date: 11 Sep 92 01:44:41 GMT
	<1992Sep10.110138.753@kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp>
Organization: Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
In-reply-to: chosei@mokuren.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp's message of 10 Sep 92 11:01:38 GMT

In article <1992Sep10.110138.753@kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp>
   chosei@mokuren.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp writes:

 =}What happened if I move from one ken to another one (from 
 =}Kyoto  to Osaka, for example)? Do I have to sell my line and 
 =}buy another there? Or is it simple to just change the fone number ?

   I tried to be clear in my original article about the 'kanyuuken' but
it seems that I failed.  I apologize for my inept explanation...  Perhaps
the following will clear things up:

	To get a telephone in Japan one must first purchase the right
	to have a telephone line.  This 'right' is called a kanyuuken.
	It is yours for life (or until you sell it to someone else).

	Once one has a kanyuuken, one can request a line at any time
	for any address and NTT must provide service.  At that time
	one will receive a telephone number for their line.

	When moving, one can request a new line (with the old line
	being terminated).  NTT will end service to the first line
	and begin service to the new line on the requested date.
	A new phone number will be provided for the new line.

	If one no longer desires service, NTT will disconnect the
	line.  One still has the kanyuuken which gives them the right
	to get a new line whenever and wherever one wants it.

   So in answer to your question:

	You own the right to have a line and NTT provides that line.  You
	do not have to sell your 'right' when moving as NTT will honor it
	for a new line anywhere.  Just report the change of address and
	the date for service change to NTT (calling 116 is usually enough)
	and you will be told your new number (it sometimes takes a couple
	of days though...  more if the owner of the new place hasn't
	registered with NTT).

   I also received email asking me why I call the kanyuuken a right...
The answer is simple, the 'ken' in 'kanyuuken' is the kanzi for "right".
And the description of the kanyuuken by NTT is "the right to telephone
service" or some such.  The word 'kenri' is used in the description
where I used the word 'right'...  'kenri' is Japanese for 'right'...
I hope this clears up any ambiguities.

BTW: I will compile the reference list for books on international
	marriage this weekend.  The email response was large enough
	to prompt me to post it.  I'm happy to hear there is so
	much interest in sharing cultures :)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: bondir@vaxb.gbus.virginia.edu (RICHARD BONDI)
Subject: Smooth Kanji Fonts and Egword Alternatives?
Keywords: Kanji Font Egword Macintosh
Organization: Darden Center, University of Virginia
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 22:03:33 GMT

I have two problems.
1. The Kanji fonts from my (old - 2.1) version of Egword are bitmap fonts, 
not smooth fonts.  Where can I get smooth Kanji fonts on the Macintosh?
2. Are there any cheap alternatives to Egword, especially that work without 
KanjiTalk?

Thanks!
Please send replies to rsb5c@Virginia.edu.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: luke@platypus.ee.byu.edu (David Luke)
Subject: Re: Cost of Living In Musashino
Organization: Brigham Young University, Provo UT USA
Distribution: world 
Date: 10 Sep 92 09:44:49

In article <1992Sep10.045603.19707@nmit.mt.nec.co.jp> d-itasak@nmit.mt.nec.co.jp (Daisaku Itasaka) writes:
>In article <523@kgupyr.kwansei.ac.jp>
>	z91005@kgupyr.kwansei.ac.jp (z91005) writes:
>
>>>Wow! That's no less than three times my rent.
>>>Are you a company executive or something?
>>>An average salaryman like me can never afford to pay that much.
>>>If I got married, there should be absolutely nothing left after
>>>paying such an extraordinary expensive rent every month,
>>>
>>>Note: Not oil.
>>>In almost all apartment house, you can't use an oil burner.

I don't know about "almost all", but I have lived in an apartment in 
Mitaka where sekiyu stoves weren't allowed.  (and yes, it was during what
was probably the coldest winter in the last 10 years....)

>>Yes, you have to pay at least 170,000 yen/month for a 2LDK apartment
>>in Musashino area.

>I guess the bottom line is not that high.

Kind of off the subject, but if you want cheap, you can find that in the 
Musashino/Mitaka area as well.  Tunnels did a couple of spots on their TV
show in the last couple of months on very cheap apartments.  (The title
of the segment was something like, "I live in the worst place in Japan".)
They showed a couple of places in Mitaka that rent for under 10,000/month.
Of course, we're talking about rooms that are 3'x10' (or worse) ...

>Probably. But such luxurious ones are exceptions.
>I'm talking about average ones that an average person can afford to live.
>An average person can never afford to pay 170000yen a month.
>If you can, you are not average and don't even have to pay any rent.
>Buy your own house!

It depends greatly on what you mean by "average person".  If you mean
"average college student whose parents aren't paying for everything",
yes.  If you mean "average new employee", yes.  (Starting pay is usually
about 17 MAN... but then, most reasonably-sized companies offer company
housing for 1-2 MAN/month, or housing allowances for people not living
in company housing.)  If, however, you mean "average person in late
20s or early 30s, married, with wife working", 17 MAN is not at all
unreasonable or unusual.  (If nothing else, count up the number of 2LDKs
in Tokyo in that price range (probably in the hundreds of thousands of
units, if not more) and note that most of them are occupied, by "average"
people).

Partly in relation to the topic at hand, and partly for future reference
for those of us who may want to work in Japan on a permanent or semi-
permanent basis, what it NEC's policy on shataku and housing allowances?

>A wrong guy in a wrong place at wrong time...

Aren't we all?
-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  David Luke                      "There's nothing worse than a brilliant     |
|  luke@wombat.ee.byu.edu           image of a fuzzy concept."                 |
|                                                               -- Ansel Adams |
From: keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: cause of US participation in WWII
Date: 16 Sep 1992 00:46:12 GMT
Organization: The University of Westrn Australia
NNTP-Posting-Host: wapsy.psy.uwa.oz.au

fester@island.COM (Mike Fester) writes:

[mark crespin wrote]
>>Prior to Pearl Harbor there was a significant peace movement in the US that
>>was determined to prevent US participation in the war.  It was one of the
>>issues of the previous year's presidential elections.  It is quite likely that
>>in the absence of Pearl Harbor that the US would have stood by, content only
>>to send some arms to the UK, USSR, and China.

>Content? Not hardly. It's no secret that we wanted in the European war. Any
>excuse Germany would have given us would have been eagerly pounced upon by
>FDR (IMO, rightfully so). The Pacific War was an unnecessary distraction to 
>us.

I disagree. Mark Crespin is correct on this particular point.
How can you forget Lindberg's America First movement which vociferously
argued to stay out from the European war?  The USA could confortably
remain neutral while selling arms and war materials to UK under Lend\
& Lease agreement for another year or two if Japanese fought a war
only in China.
From: harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Toto Washolet
Date: 6 Sep 92 23:17:42 GMT
	<7171@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com>
Organization: Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
In-reply-to: blamb@rodan.hri.com's message of 3 Sep 92 16:48:52 GMT

In article <7171@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com> blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
   writes:

 =} [toilet seat description deleted]
 =}
 =}I been thinking of getting one, just to get my wife with the remote....
 =}just once!

   Hope you can afford it :)  This thread caught my interest so I went
to a toilet seat store.  They had a few models of these electric wonders.
They were all roughly over 120,000 yen (1000 US dollars)  :(  I acted
like I wanted to buy one and was able to talk the salesperson down to
100,000 for the simplest one so I figure the discount shops might have
them quite a bit cheaper...

   The price of a comfortable... uhhh... seat?
From: shin@krusty.ee.udel.edu (Jeong-Gyun Shin)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Japanese immigration
Date: 9 Sep 92 16:04:57 GMT
Organization: University of Delaware

>I was on the losing end of a hit-and-run a few months ago in Kyoto... the
>other guy was drunk (so the witnesses said -- he stopped for a minute before
>taking off).  Later, the  witnesses told me that he was drunk, and probably
>Korean.  I told them that he wasn't Korean, wasn't Japanese, wasn't a man...
>he was simply an idiot.  I hope they understood my point.

No wonder blacks foul nice neighborhoods, according to a former Japanese
Prime Minister.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: coyote@sti.com (Ron Lussier)
Subject: Repairing an old Pachinko machine
Keywords: pachinko bush quayle wilson cia
Organization: National Man-Smurf Love Association
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 00:23:20 GMT

Howdy,

I recently inherited an old, broken down and powerless Pachinko machine.  I'm
wondering if there is anywhere I can get this beast repaired and reconditioned.
(Preferably in the S.F. Bay area.)

Please reply via EMail, as I don't often read this group.  Thanks very much!

Peace,
Ron
-- 
Ron 'Coyote' Lussier            /|               Software Transformation
coyote@sti.com                 / |      1601 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd, #100
(408) 973-8081 x315           /__\                   Cupertino, CA 95014
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: hiraga@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Yuzuru Hiraga)
Subject: Re: Troublesome words
Organization: Stanford University CSLI
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 21:41:56 GMT

In article <Sep12.061149.7144@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> ntetsuya@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Nishimura) writes:
>	Besides Yebi** in Russian, I heard that "katsuo (= bonito)" in Japanese
>	is also troublesome in Italian (meaning a "male chicken" in English).
>
>	Any other example of strange words that share the similar sounds in two
>	langauges, i.e. between Japanese and English or whatever?

DISCLAIMER: You brought this up, not me :-)

BTW:
>		Jennifer Beals 
>			 ^^^^^in Japanese reading "Bi^rusu" which is also the 
>			      reading of an English word "virus" in Japanese.
# The Japanese reading must have come from German.

So...

* There was a Japanese textbook on PL/I which had an example program
taken from sales accounting.  The variable names were written in Romaji.
One of them stood for "sales price", which in Japanese is URI-NE.
And of course, you can't use a "-" in a PL/I name.
(I'm not sure whether this version is still available because I personally
insisted the author to change it).

* In the 50/60's, there was this notorious pro-wrestler "Bobo Brazil" (sp?),
who brings up the "Yebisu" theme for those speaking the Kyuushuu dialect...

* There was a conductor visiting Japan, perhaps of Scandinavian or Danish
origin.  The next time I saw his name (some year later), his name was
changed to "Perick" or "Perrick" - something like that.  I didn't see
the "e" the first time.

* "For the sake of pleasure" has a different connotation for Japanese people..

* Traditional Greek inn/restaurants hang the sign "taverna" in front.
Japanese people find this amusing because "taberuna" means "don't eat!".

* Standand joke.  An American student walking the Japanese countryside
spots a pile of potatoes, and with no particular intent, picks one up.
A farmer working nearby says "What time is it now?".  The student, quite
impressed that a common farmer manages such good pronunciation, tells him
the time.  But the farmer asks back the same question, somewhat with
an angry tone.  The student, bewildered, tells the time again.
This goes on for a few rounds.  As it turns out, the farmer was saying,
"Hotta imo ijiruna!", meaning "don't fool around with my dug potatoes!".

* Returning to proper nouns, a former Syrian president had the name,
"Atassi" (sp?).  As "atashi" is for "I" in Japanese, saying "Atassi daitouryou"
(President Atassi) sounds like claiming "I'm the President!"

* And of course, in computer science, there is the famous Prof. Aho
(books on automata, compilers, etc.).  As of his co-author Prof. Ullman,
I've heard someone relating him to Ultra-man.
And there is also Dr. John Backus of IBM.
Writing this, I noticed that in the Japanese tease line:
"Aho, Baka, Chindon-ya! ...", the "naughty-words" begin with ABC. Interesting.

... and this can go on forever...

-Yuzuru
From: lindaa@sooth.Berkeley.EDU (Linda Absher)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Mr. Baseball
Date: 14 Sep 1992 20:05:07 GMT
Organization: /etc/organization
NNTP-Posting-Host: sooth.berkeley.edu

In article <1992Sep14.161134.3671@island.COM> fester@island.COM (Mike Fester) writes:

	[Stuff Deleted]
>Uh, it should be pointed out that the original premise of the movie was changed
>at the insistence of the parent company (Sony?). They didn't like the way the
>Japanese "way" was portrayed. This was one of the first public displays of 
>a Japanese parent company excercising editorial control over what is essentially
>an "artistic" expression. Presumeably, they approved of all the things you
>find objectionable.
> 
>>But then again, I know I expect *way* too much from mass media....
>
>I don't know why. They're pretty commonly a "lowest common denominator" oper-
>ation. Not much to be expected from that.
>


Actually, I have two schools of thought re Sony:


	1.  I would think they're *so* geared towards being a lean, mean
	    money-making machine that they would go for anything that would
	    bring in the big bucks, which would include images worse than 
	    Selleck being bathed by some Asian 'babes; however, when reading
	    PRIEMERE magazine, I see that Japanese corps. are having problems
	    in dealing with businesses that are part of the entertainment
	    industry (i.e., the group consensus making does not fare well
	    with businesses that depend upon making money on pop culture
	    trends).  This has been true with their endeavors in Las Vegas
	    and is becomming true in Hollywood;

	2.  and if they are concerned with images, why didn't comb through
	    the *whole* movie and remove all potentially imflammatory 
	    images?  Sounds like the Peter Principle at work here, but
	    at the group level.

I'll probably go see it, though.....

:wq


-- 
   $  Linda Absher		$ "Jane! Get me off of this               $ 
   $  lindaa@info.Berkeley.EDU	$      crazy thing!!!"                    $
   $				$    -George Jetson, "The Jetsons"        $
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: pssres12@ucs.usl.edu (Vignes Gerard M)
Subject: Re: Attractive, Wealthy Japanese Woman Sought
Organization: Univ. of Southwestern La., Lafayette
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 05:17:08 GMT

          Because they are exquisite creatures,
           with deep, beautiful, almond eyes
            and soft shiny, silky hair
             and slender bodies.
                                   And yet,
                       they seem not ashamed
                of their natural intelligence
        unlike many American women I have known.


-- 

pssres12@ucs.usl.edu	Gerard Vignes, USL PO Box 42709, Lafayette LA 70504 USA
From: timd@ed.ac.uk (Tim Duncan)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Japanese immigration
Date: 11 Sep 92 10:44:53 GMT
Reply-To: T.Duncan@ed.ac.uk
Organization: AI Applications Institute, University of Edinburgh

In article <HARKCOM.92Sep11100656@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp>, harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom) writes:
|> In article <1650@frf.omron.co.jp> jfriedl@omron.co.jp (Jeffrey Friedl) writes:
|> 
|>  =}(and what exactly the hell does "catch-22" mean, anyway? :-)
|> 
|>    An excellent book (which I haven't read since high school).  If my
|> memory isn't pickled yet, then the author is Kurt Vonnegut.  It is an
|> excellent book and I recommend it to anyone who likes mind games.


Whoops!  Joseph Heller, I think.  The "catch-22" (as I recall it) was that 
if you were insane they would send you home from the war, but that if you acted
insane they figured you were bluffing. A case of "heads we win, tails you lose!"

	-- Tim
From: robohen@ocf.berkeley.edu (Henry Robertson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: travelling
Date: 9 Sep 1992 05:36:21 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandstorm.berkeley.edu

Yes !

  One or two week rail passes are only sold outside Japan.

    Andreas Pavlik
      University of Vienna

      OK, but keep in mind that when you want to make specific arrangements
      at one of their travel offices, they will ask for your passport.
From: jwd@briones.ced.berkeley.edu (John Wilbrand Dahlgren)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Japanese immigration
Date: 13 Sep 1992 23:08:20 GMT
Organization: /etc/organization
NNTP-Posting-Host: briones.ced.berkeley.edu

jfriedl@omron.co.jp (Jeffrey Friedl) writes:
     I was allowed into the country because I was preceived to be an asset to
     their country rather than a drain, and I consider myself luckey for it.

Great Jeff! But did you mean asset or ass :-) Seems to me you must
be having a bad day or maybe you are always obnoxiously righteous?
Take it easy.
From: yajima@nttcom.ntt.jp (YAJIMA Hiroshi)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Area Code in Japan
Date: 7 Sep 92 08:37:47 GMT
Organization: NTT Network Information Systems Labs. Musashino, Tokyo

In article <MS-C.715569464.1103527590.mrc@Tomobiki-Cho.CAC.Washington.EDU> mrc@Tomobiki-Cho.CAC.Washington.EDU (Mark Crispin) writes:


>   I don't think 42 is an area code, but rather the first two digits of a set of
>   area codes near To^kyo^.  422 is Musashino-Shi, 424 is Ho^ya-Shi, both in
   To^kyo^.

 You are right. 
  422 is Musashino-Shi, but 424 is the area code for Ho^ya-Shi,
a part of Komae-Shi, Tanashi-Shi, a part of Cho^fu-Shi, Higashikurume-Shi, and
a part of Fuchu-Shi.
--

    |  / __  __/ __  __/ Hiroshi Yajima, 
  / | /     /       /    NTT Network Information Syatems Laboratories,
_/  _/    _/      _/     9 - 11 Midori-Cho 3-Chome Musashino-Shi,
                         Tokyo, 180 Japan,  E-MAIL: yajima@nttcom.ntt.jp
                         TEL: +81 422-59-4256	 FAX: +81 422-59-4254

                         
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: justin@mik.uky.edu (justin sullivan)
Subject: Re: Nippo-Disney
    <1992Sep13.042346.4069@usl.edu> <1992Sep13.042838.4228@usl.edu>
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 06:58:10 GMT

In <1992Sep13.042838.4228@usl.edu> pssres12@ucs.usl.edu (Vignes Gerard M) writes:

>	Let's get even with the Japanese
>	for selling us all those foreign cars.

Are you kidding? I bow down and kiss the ground and count my lucky stars
that there ARE things like Toyota/Lexus, Honda, etc.. And Sony, JVC
(and GunBuster and Urusuei-Yatsura.. :)
(of course, if Bush gets re-elected, I only hope I can find a nice place to
live in Tokyo..)