HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu (Rikiya Asano)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: More on "gaijin" (was Re: Please give your opinions...)
Date: 22 Nov 92 23:46:46 GMT
	<1992Nov22.152001.1@sscl.uwo.ca>
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

>Most Japanese who was raised strictly are taught that they have
>to use "Euphemism" whenever possible and saying something 
>directly is VERY VERY VERY impolite. (This kind of preference 
>towards euphemism is not unique to Japan. Take a look at what
>diplomats are doing.) And, more subtle the euphemism, more
>polite it is.

This is true. I think that this attitude is nice and pretty but it is
ineffective when dealing with today's interdependent cultures. I have
broken thiese chains. I am free from this bonage that was left on the
Japanese as a result of American occupation. The occupation is over.
That's right even the mental occupation for some of us. I feel sorry for
those of you who walk around
like this. So, in my experiences I have learned that to become similiar with
"as many cultures as you can" will break this mental slavery. Now, don't
get me wrong, you won't come out like me but you will losen the cords of
anti-socialiblity among diiferent peoples and you Won't feel like your
doing something wrong all the time. GOOD Luck!!!!
Xref: sparky soc.culture.japan:10898 sci.lang.japan:4720
From: nsc!berlioz.nsc.com!rahul@voder.pa.dec.com (Cool Man Dude Fool)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,sci.lang.japan
Subject: Trip To Japan - SEMICON-JAPAN
Date: 15 Nov 92 05:29:18 GMT
Followup-To: soc.culture.japan
Organization: National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara
Apparently-To: voder!pyramid!decwrl!comp-research-japan@decwrl.dec.com
Status: R


Netters,

A friend of mine will be traveling to Japan to attend SEMICON-JAPAN later this  
month.  In general, what are fun things to do during the trip?  Any
non-touristy activities.......cheap, fun......

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!

Cheers

Rahul


Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: Children vs Corporation
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 16:24:31 GMT

In article <BxpoDF.22B@world.std.com> cmr@world.std.com (Charles M Richmond) writes:
>Oh yea...   Unlike our resident prankster all of my newsclippings are real! (-:
>
>Charlie 
>
>	TOKYO (UPI) -- Japanese women, faced with the unpleasant prospect of
>raising their children in one of the world's most crowded and expensive
>countries, are opting to have fewer children than ever, the government
>said Friday.

[Much deleted to save bandwidth]

An interesting aspect of this is that if you have a child in Japan, and the
child can be considered legally Japanese, most cities pay you a 
"congratulatory" sum of anywhere from Y120,000 to Y200,000. 

Mike
-- 
Disclaimer - I'm only doing what the little voices tell me to do.
From: rtang@sunee.uwaterloo.ca (The One Your Mother Warned You About!)
Subject: Re: Fingerprinting Gaijin
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 05:47:21 GMT

In article <1992Nov19.024925.4568@leland.Stanford.EDU> underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:
>In article <HARKCOM.92Nov19091904@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp>
>harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom) writes:
>>In article <1992Nov18.060308.27770@leland.Stanford.EDU>
>>   underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:
>> =}out the following.  The Japanese gov't has been, in general, fairly unbiased
>> =}in its treatment of foreigners, regardless of ethnicity.
>> =}(Note that Kathleen Morikawa is a Japanese by ethnicity but is an
>> =}American citizen.  I applaud UPI for referring to her as an American.)
>>   So you know the woman?  If not then don't assume by her name that she
>>is ethnic Japanese as it might not be her 'real' name...
>
>The statistical probability that she is ethnically Japanese is very
>high because the marriages of Japanese-ge men+European-ge women is
>much higher than the marriages of European-ge men+Japanese-ge women.
I believe you mean the other way around.

>[rest of post that sound like a broken record deleted]

RT
From: hattori@convex.com (Mato Hattori)
Subject: Robot Sumo Tournament in Japan
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 19:21:50 GMT
Organization: Engineering, CONVEX Computer Corp., Richardson, Tx., USA
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

To those who are planning to spend X'mas vacation in Japan, there is a BIG 
event in Tokyo.  If you are interested in Japanese robotics, don't miss 
the 4th annual Robot Sumo Tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan on December 23rd.
It's free to watch.  I personally will participate the competition.

If you want to know more about this event, please send me an e-mail.
--
Mato Hattori                  email: hattori@convex.com
Convex Computer, U.S.A.              (or hattori@csrd.nkk.co.jp)
3000 Waterview Parkway        office: 1+214-497-4304
Richardson, Texas 75083       home:   1+214-424-4655
--
Mato Hattori                  email: hattori@convex.com
Convex Computer, U.S.A.              (or hattori@csrd.nkk.co.jp)
3000 Waterview Parkway        office: 1+214-497-4304
Richardson, Texas 75083       home:   1+214-424-4655
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
From: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: Some Stupid Questions for Japanes.
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 17:08:18 GMT

In article <1992Nov16.205040.19478@leland.Stanford.EDU> underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:
>In article <1992Nov16.025652.3609@eng.umd.edu> dskim@eng.umd.edu (Daeshik Kim)
>writes:
>>In article <1992Nov16.002149.12660@leland.Stanford.EDU>
>>underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:
>>>S. Korea has banned Japanese language programming (musicals, drama, etc.)
>>>from radio, TV, the theatres, etc.
>>	I'm posting this since I don't want people here to get
>>	the wrong info. due to this B.S.
>
>Yes.  No one should believe either of us without verification.
>
>So, I refer everyone to the "Japan Times" of 1991.  I'm referring
>to the particular issue where there was a report about the following
>controversy that erupted.  Apparently, a Japanese women had just performed
>a musical, sung entirely in Japanese, in S. Korea.  Several S. Korean
>officials were in an uproar over whether she violated the law that I
>mentioned above.  The S. Korean gov't decided to let this "slide" because
>she had performed exclusively in front of the Japanese business community
>in S. Korea.
>
>The report goes on to say that Japanese-language programming like
>movies and dramas are also officially banned in S. Korea.

While Japanese has been banned, in this case it was not. The incident took place
in 1990, and the singer received permission from the Korean government to 
to perform in Japanese prior to the concert. BTW, in at least some cases
you CAN learn Japanese at the universities. The ban, I believe, applies to 
public performances.

Mike
-- 
Disclaimer - I'm only doing what the little voices tell me to do.
From: wdw@math2.sma.usna.navy.MIL (Wm. Douglas Withers -- math  FACULTY <wdw@sma.usna.navy.mil>)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Who started all this gaijin myth?!
Date: 20 Nov 92 13:33:50 GMT
Organization: U.S. Naval Academy

Has anyone noticed that the FAQ for this newsgroup says that the term
`gaijin' is derogatory and insulting (I don't recall the exact choice of
words)?  Perhaps this phrase of the FAQ should be changed?
-- 
Els Withers                   email: wdw@math2.sma.usna.navy.mil
Department of Mathematics     phone: (410)267-3192 / fax: (410)267-4883
United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD  21402-5002     Senri no tabi mo ippo yori...
Via: uk.ac.leeds.scs; Wed, 18 Nov 1992 19:30:07 +0000
Distribution: world
X-News-Gateway: NewsGateway@phaze.UUCP (NewsGateway 1.0 by Pierre Rioux)
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 19:10:33 GMT
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Organization: The University of Leeds, School of Computer Studies
From: ross-c@scs.leeds.ac.uk
To: usenet@phaze.cam.org
Cc: 
Subject: Re: please no holy romanization wars

In article <MS-C.722069999.662824084.mrc@Tomobiki-Cho.CAC.Washington.EDU> you write:
>Usually, therefore, ha/he/wo is used as part of kunrei-shiki romanization, but
>a number of people (particularly foreigners) prefer ha/he/wo over wa/e/o in
>Hepburn.  Hence, the following are all correct:
> 1) sensei ha, fuzi-san he itte, syasin wo totte imasita.
> 2) sensee wa, fuzi-san e itte, syasin o totte imasita.
> 3) sensei ha, fuji-san he itte, shashin wo totte imashita.
> 4) sensei wa, fuji-san e itte, shashin o totte imashita.

I use 'wa', 'e' AND 'wo' (outside the catagories presented above). I do this
because I've seen romanised music and poetry written this way and IMHO it looks
nicer. Also, 'o' is sometimes pronounced as 'wo' when it's sung.

I can't understand romaji wars. As long as it's readable who cares? Originally
I had difficulty understanding the romaji used by Elizabeth Ann (your secret
is out!), but got used to it.

Cheers,

Ross-c
From: keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Fingerprinting Gaijin
Date: 20 Nov 1992 08:06:08 GMT
Organization: The University of Western Australia
NNTP-Posting-Host: wapsy.psy.uwa.oz.au

ricko@ee.uts.edu.au (Rick Jelliffe) writes:

>I don't think my country requires fingerprinting of working holiday visa
>people. So I can complain without any hypocrisy. It is stupid and 
>insulting. The print is so bad it often could be an elbow-print.

On the principle of a diplomatic reciprocity, I object fingerprinting
Australian citizens and permanent residents when they apply for a 
Japanese permanent residency. Your civilized country does not require
fingerprinting for temporary residents (but I assume also for permanent
residency.)

However, Japanese bureaucracy did not miss any chance for finger-
printing its own citizens. Japanese Police requires a fingerprinting
in order to apply for a police clearance letter!  The way they check
a criminal record appears that matching fingerprints with those
taken by commiting crimes. In a sense, Japan is closer to a police
state for its compulsion for fingerpriting anyone.

>And also insulting is the way that you have had to give your fingerprint 
>if you sell anything second hand (if you don't have a stamp). What's wrong
>with a signature? It serves  little purpose, and is just makes Japan look
>like a police state.

The use of a stamp (Hanko) substituting a signature was introduced when
a large number of Japanese were illiterate. Since then, literacy rate
went up but the custom to use a stamp instead of a signature stuck.
Since a stamp can be stolen or forged easily, it is one of those
irational customs Japanese still keep. It could be one of those
non-tariff barriers that prevents foreigners to enter the 
Japanese market. It could be related to a longer intestine..
From: robohen@ocf.berkeley.edu (Henry Robertson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Fusion (was RE:  Plutonium)
Date: 16 Nov 1992 21:23:04 GMT
Organization: U. C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: headcrash.berkeley.edu
Keywords: Japanese/US pursuits in ICF and MCF

OK, pretty good description of hot-fusion technology, James-san.  However,
I understand that the Japanese are continuing work on that cold fusion
topic...remember that "scam"?  Well, I did a report on it before when
I used to be a chem major, and there is a journal called Fusion Technology
which talks about plenty of ongoing research around the world on cold fusion.
The two fellows who discovered cold fusion have disappeared from the public eye,
& i heard rumors that some Japanese company is paying their research.

FLAMETIME!!!!!!

Xref: sparky soc.culture.japan:10952 soc.culture.korean:5322 soc.culture.taiwan:15409
From: rehir@gauss.med.harvard.edu (Hirokatsu Watanabe 432-2275)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.korean,soc.culture.taiwan
Subject: Re: What about Korean and Taiwanese in the internment
Date: 17 Nov 92 17:01:13 GMT
Followup-To: soc.culture.japan
Organization: Harvard Medical School


   Hello, folks
   Please forgive me to send this article.

   I sent my article to ask whether the internment of Korean and Tiwanese 
was happen or not in WW II last week. And I got many reply from many people.
Now I give my much thanks for them again, though I sent my replies to them.

   However, I'm so stupid that I deleted a e-mail about it by mistake.
I remember only that his first name is 'Greg', and it was a very good
information.

   Greg, if you read this article, could you send me your address?
I would like to thank you. And if possible, could you send your information
to me again? I'll greatly appreciate you.

********************************
*     Hirokatsu Watanabe       *
*------------------------------*
* Mo^karimakka?  Sapparidesuwa *
*         Maido Ookini         *
********************************

Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 00:17:59 -0500 
From: Rikiya Asano <ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Greenpeace
	<7199@news.duke.edu>




                   Greenpeace is am exciting group. They've gone many
great things for the world. I wish I can join them. But, I have very
little time.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: tjm@ecr.mu.oz.au (Trefor_John MORGAN)
Subject: Australian to work in Japan needs advice
Organization: Dept. Engineering Computer Resources, Melbourne Uni.
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 03:24:28 GMT


  I have recently finished my Electrical Engineering degree, and have been
offered a job in Tokyo.  The company I will be working for is a sub-contracting
firm in the building industry, mainly dealing with environmental control
(air conditioning/lighting/plumbing).

	I was wondering what I can expect in terms of working conditions, 
life style etc etc when living in Tokyo.  Also what is a realistic 
estimate for living expenses (NB my rent is being paid for).


	Any help would be greatly appreciated,

	Trefor John Morgan.
From: yoichi@carson.u.washington.edu (Yoichi Ii)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: _o_
Date: 17 Nov 92 23:32:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov17.233255.6092
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

ee152fdm@sdcc15.ucsd.edu (Maiko Covington) writes:
>;_; (crying face)
>*^_^* (ringo no hoppe no Maiko?)

\o/   banzai!

(^_^;)   I saw this in fj.* but don't know what it means. Big ear? I'm all
         ears?
From: shibuya@bl.applicon.slb.com (Hiroto Shibuya)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: new newsgroup discussion
Date: 17 Nov 92 19:19:28 GMT
Reply-To: shibuya@bl.applicon.slb.com
Organization: Applicon; Billerica, MA (USA)

>
> 4) Newsgroup restructuring/partition.  Split s.c.j. into various parts, and
>    perhaps have some of them be moderated.

I support it.

>   Here's a strawman of a possible
>    split:
> 
>   [deleted]

Isn't this splitting a little too much into detail for current amount
of traffic?  Something like splitting into 4,5 groups sounds more
reasonable.  I hate to see several new newsgroups with only handful of
posting every week.  I believe you need certain critical mass of
people to have active discussion going on.

>    soc.culture.japan.asano		this is reserved for all paranoid,
>					racist, and historically inaccurate
>					ranting

This is a joke right?  If this is your serious strawman, you shouldn't
goof around like this (although I totally understand your temptation).

>    There is intentionally not a soc.culture.japan.misc.

What is your intention here?  I think it is reasonable to supersede
s.c.j with s.c.j.misc and leave it unmoderated, with everything else
moderated.  This seems to be a common practice when splitting
overtrafficed newsgroup.

I think what we need now is to wait for a dedicated person to
volunteer him/herself as a moderator.

					Hiroto Shibuya
			
					Applicon Inc.
					Billerica, MA
					U.S.A.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom)
Subject: Re: otoko-rashii Riki-chan
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 23:57:06 GMT
	<1992Nov17.200236.16488@cs.mcgill.ca>
Organization: Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

In article <1992Nov17.200236.16488@cs.mcgill.ca> galler@hunter.cs.mcgill.ca
   (Michael Galler) writes:

 =}>                      In 1987 or 86, I came to America. Although I had a
 =}> big fantasy about entering into a school like Wasada, Hokkaido, Kyoto,
 =}> or others I couldn't. Went I was in Nippon, I did Actually try to enter
 =}> Wasada for as a major in physics. After not being accepted, I change my
 =}> plans and tried to
 =}
 =}I find it odd that a Japanese would misspell Waseda the same way
 =}twice within the same paragraph. The whole tone of these posts
 =}seem very unlike a Japanese, no matter how ill-adjusted.

   I don't find this strange as it is a common occurence in Japan
with roman characters.  I also don't find anything in the posts that
couldn't come from a Japanese...

 =}I suggest someone is having us on.

   Maybe Mr. Asano is the one doing so?  Maybe if we stop trying to
judge whether or not it's some jerk having at us or some jerk having
at us then there would be less wasted bandwidth (such as my reply to
your post)...
From: yoichi@carson.u.washington.edu (Yoichi Ii)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Dave Barry's ``Dave Barry does Japan'' (dave barry ga nihon wo suru)
Date: 16 Nov 92 19:42:42 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov16.194242.19872
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

molenda@i1.msi.umn.edu (Jason Molenda) writes:
>[...] He touches on most of the major things, including food,
>service, baseball, manga, trains, japanese people, japanese humor,
>japanese rock and roll, etc.

Beer! What about beer!?  In his preview artcle, which I posted a few
weeks ago, he mentioned about Japanese beer.

>I enjoyed this book quite a bit.  I love Dave's sense of humor.  I read
>it in maybe one evening.

I always try to start reading on Friday night or Saturday; it's so hard
to put down.

>Some parts were really really funny, but several left me laugh-less for 
>a bunch of pages where he seemed to go on and on.

Blasphemy!

>    What surprised me was a couple of sections where he takes
>on a serious tone and has some rather well-thought out observations.

He has done this in at least two of his books. In "Dave Barry's Greatest Hits"
he has one serious chapter which is about his father's death. In "Dave Barry 
Turns 40", it is about his mother's suicide.  In the current book, the serious
chapter is about Hiroshima, A-bomb, and the Japan's role in WWII.
From: molenda@i1.msi.umn.edu (Jason Molenda)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Dave Barry's ``Dave Barry does Japan'' (dave barry ga nihon wo suru)
Date: 15 Nov 92 19:45:44 GMT
Article-I.D.: news2.1992Nov15.194544.19889
Organization: University of Minnesota

I believe it is only available in hardcover right now, cost ~$18.
Available anywhere in the known universe, or at least at your local B
Dalton's.

This book is a summary of Dave's impressions of Japan which he picked
up over 3 weeks of visiting To^kyo^, Kyo^to, Hiroshima and a small town
or two.  He touches on most of the major things, including food,
service, baseball, manga, trains, japanese people, japanese humor,
japanese rock and roll, etc.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit.  I love Dave's sense of humor.  I read
it in maybe one evening.  Some parts were really really funny, but
several left me laugh-less for a bunch of pages where he seemed to go
on and on.  What surprised me was a couple of sections where he takes
on a serious tone and has some rather well-thought out observations.
The funny parts were really funny, the lame parts were pretty lame, and
the serious parts were pretty darn good.  Most parts were of the funny
type.

I'd recommend getting the book (of course), but I'd advise waiting for
paperback to come out.  I'm sending this to a friend in Japan for a
christmas present, so I won't kill myself for spending $18 on it, but
if that weren't the case I think I'd be dissappointed.

As an example of one of the funnier parts, here's where Dave talks about
how Japanese folks don't like to say ``no'' to a person.  He offers
a translation table for travellers:

    english statement made                      actual meaning in american
    by japanese person

        I see                                           no
        Ah                                              no
        Ah-hah                                          no
        Yes                                             no
        that is difficult.                      that is completely impossible
        that is very intersting.                that is the stupidest thing i
                                                        ever heard.
        we will study your proposal             we will feed your proposal
                                                        to a goat.
-- 
Jason Molenda, University of Minnesota, Supercomputer Inst., Technical Support
SGI Iris Admin        molenda@jason.msi.umn.edu       DoD #1867     '77 CB750F
``If you are what you eat, I'm dead meat.'' -- Timbuk 3
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: smittie@csulb.edu (Smittie)
Subject: Re: Fingerprinting Gaijin
Organization: Cal State Long Beach
	<1992Nov20.200619.5575@src.dec.com> <1ektbrINNd4e@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 21:56:11 GMT

>Where did you get that from??  I never got fingerprinted for my driver's ID.
>Moreover, what do you mean by identity card??  My student ID just shows my
>face.  Never heard of a state identity card, not even California.

I have given a a finger print the last 3 times I've renewed my license in
California. My wife was required to give a finger print when she applied for a
California State Indentification card which is issue by the Department of Motor
Vehicles.

But maybe the California Department of Motor Vehicles makes special rules for
those living in Berkeley.

smittie\

-- 
                             Tada mono de ha nai
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GEnie, MCI, AOL:Smittie   All of these accounts except MCI will die on or
smittie@beach.csulb.edu   about Dec 31. UNIX will be forwarded for 2 weeks.
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 23:03:19 -0500 
From: Rikiya Asano <ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Fingerprinting Gaijin
	<18NOV199217192360@vxcrna.cern.ch>

United Press International

>>	A new law which will take effect in January will eliminate
>>fingerprinting for South Koreans, Taiwanese and other foreigners with
>>permanent resident status.


                      This is great news to me! I think that all others
should be fingerprinted to control crime. Some people feel humiliating
when getting fingerprinted. This is because T.V. has associated
fingerprinting with crime only. Never as a protection. I believe this
will change someday. I would like to see third generation Ko-ryuans and
Chinese and others become citizens of Nippon.