HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jcliu@four-lab4.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Liu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Not a Myth at All
Date: 16 Dec 1992 01:16:02 GMT
Organization: UC Berkeley Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
NNTP-Posting-Host: four-lab4.berkeley.edu

In article <1992Dec15.164500.2832@island.COM> fester@island.COM 
(Mike Fester) writes:

  >I can't really believe you're saying this; if someone were to say 'You can't
  >imagine how much it hurts to hear these Chinese trying to speak English, yet
  >butchering it with their horrible accents', I have a feeling you'd be all
  >over them....

No, I equally rip on orientals massacring English.  I'm all over the
guys in our lab, just ask 'em B-).  One Taiwanese dude irritates the
hell out of me especially when he's on the phone.  But hey, I'm chill...
yeah...like I can keep cool about it.  I don't own any guns...(lucky for
them...8-))

  >          And I and my former roommates have heard Chinese coming from non-
  >Asians that seemed to be indistinguishable from native speech. And even if
  >it were not the case, nobody seems to care if (eg) some foriegn European 
  >speaks English with a bad accent, so long as the language is generally unders

What do you mean by "indistinguishable?  I can usually tell by accent
over the phone which area of China somebody came from or whether the 
person is non-native.  With Japanese, I'm not very good yet, but I've
on occasion differentiated Sendai, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hakata accents.

>Perhaps you should spend some time in, say, Sendai, Kochi, or other places 
>were the local dialect is assuredly a bit "rougher" than Tokyo-ben. And those
>are native Japanese.

My current Japanese tutor is from Sendai...tell me about it. 8-(

>My data point: I can pass on the phone as Japanese at all the companies I 
>worked. But then, business phone Japanese is very formulaic, and I knew those
>formulas. My accent was fine, my grammar and vocab (outside of my work field)

Dude, if I ever get the time to get to your level of fluency in
speaking, I'll send you my next platinum hit Japanese CD!! 8-).

Jaa, James
=======================================================================
James C. Liu |  KARAOKE Addict!  Nihongo wa, hanasu koto ga dekinain  |
             |  desu ga, utau koto ga dekimasu.                       |
=======================================================================
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,talk.politics.guns
From: maierj@edmund.cs.andrews.edu (Joey Maier)
Subject: Re: Yoshi Hattori
Organization: Andrews University
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 23:04:48 GMT

>>Don't gripe about someone's grammar and punctuation in their second
>>language if you can't spell in your first language.
>
>This is the proper use (?) of humor-impairedness.
>--
>Ken Arromdee (arromdee@jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu, arromdee@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu)

Sorry.  The signal to noise ratio on this topic had gotten a little low,
and I had reached the conclusion that the whole world was out to japan.

It's nice to know that another gaijin wa kara atama o moteimasen.

Later

Joey                 maierj@andrews.edu

Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: cmr@world.std.com (Charles M Richmond)
Subject: Re: Texas Southern University marching band in To^kyo^
Organization: Integrated International Systems Corp. One Longfellow Place, Suite 3309, Boston, Ma.
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 19:24:04 GMT

trent@cs.utexas.edu (Scott Ross Trent) writes:


>If I remember the article I read right, they were students from an all-black
>school.  In their defense, I would like to point out that out of 120, the paper
>said that only fewer than 20 actually did any shop lifting.  AND that the
>rest of the group was quite upset with those who did the deed.


The latest UPI article says that between 28-66 of the "students" were not
enrolled in the school and were not members of the band. The numbers vary
according to the source. The school says that 12 students are being 
disciplined (did not state how).  Some simple logic tells you that at $400
per student there had to be 55 students involved. The $400 seems fairly
conservative to me. A portable CD player is about $150, as are most items
of that size. How many really big items is each student supposed to have
taken!? For that matter how many items each. I have trouble imagining that
the number of items per thief was much above a count of two.

The school has at least disbanded the band and reassigned the faculty members.

Charlie
-- 
*****************************************************************************
*  Charles Richmond 	Integrated International Systems Corporation        *
*  cmr@world.std.com	(Temporary) cmr@koneko.shr.dec.com		    *
*  Specializing in UNIX, X, Image Processing, and Communications.           *
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe)
Subject: Re: Not a Myth at All
Organization: Miners for a Heart of Gold
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 01:48:46 GMT

>leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:
>>I personally find that Korean-ge ladies and Japanese-ge ladies are much
>>prettier than Chinese-ge ladies.  I.e. I find the Korean-ge look and the
>>Japanese-ge look to be far more pleasing.
>Are you sure it's the "look" and not the voice?  I find Korean and 
>Japanese language to be very *appealing* when spoken in a feminine
>tone.
>...[dental work of Japanese-ge women
>... and breast-size of Chinese-ge women]
>I guess, one man's dog bite is a another man's kiss.

This is getting away from my original point.  The physical appearance among
Japanese-ge women, Korean-ge women, and Chinese-ge women are different,
generally speaking.  The statement that was quoted was not intended to say
that anyone was inherently more beautiful (beauty is in the eye of the
beholder with me considering Korean-ge women and Japanese women-ge to be
prettier than Chinese-ge women)[1].

All that I'm saying is that there is a difference (and with proper experience
at looking at these various types of Orientals, one can tell them apart), and
I happen to consider the Korean-ge and Japanese-ge features to be prettier
--a lot prettier--than the Chinese-ge features.

The poster to which I responded noted that he too could distinguish
the various ethnicities.

[1] I don't even know how this twit managed to squeeze in the word
"breast" to assess beauty.  My point is not assessing beauty but
differences in physical features.

------------------------------------------------------------------+------------
Jinsei no imi wa nan desu ka.                Sister, can you      |   \|  |`
Shitte itara oshiete kuremasen ka.           spare a coin?        |    | -+-
                                                                  |   /| / \
Copyright 1992.  Disclaimer:  1 + 1 = 3                           |
------------------------------------------------------------------+------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.asian.america,alt.sex,soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.african.american,sci.electronics,misc.consumers,misc.education,misc.entrepreneurs
From: irvine@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Brent Irvine)
Subject: Re: D O E S   A M E R I C A   S A Y   Y E S   T O   J A P A N ?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 18:48:18 GMT

In article <1992Dec11.161723.12072@unocal.com> stgprao@st.unocal.COM (Richard Ottolini) writes:
>The science policy article in December 1992 Scientific American compares
>education in America to several Asian companies.  One interesting poll:
>60% of American mothers are statisfied with their children's education in
>school compared to 10-20% in various Asian companies.  This can be

>interpretated two ways: (1) The US has a better education system, or (2)
>Americans have lower expectations of educational progress.  The article
>suggests the latter.

Actually there are a couple of other interpretations possible:
(1) Americans are more unlikely to tell a stranger about their childs
	performance (Mothers are more likley to blame their children
	for poor performance than the school).

(2) Asian mothers are more critical of the educational system.

(3) Asian mothers are more ready to blame the system for poor child
	performance.

(4) American mothers care less about grades and those other performance
	measures than Asian mothers (hence the higher overall satisfaction
	rate).

The article may imply lower expectations, but unfortunately (and, yes, I
read the article you cited), they are using statistics to prove what
they had already concluded.  

While there are reasons to think that the educational system is in a
crisis (educationally speaking), it is no excuse for even reputable magazines
go go off and bend statistics (for instance, to draw their conclusions,
they must assume that 'satisfaction' means and implies the same thing in
all languages questioned in:  For instance, if you were to ask an American

	"Is the education system perfect?"
		Ans(I assume): no

	"Is the education system adequate?"
	"Is the education system satisfactory?"

You might get different answers.


-- 
+-------------------------+-----------------+---------------------------------+
| Brent L. Irvine         | NE PER INGENIUM | The above personal opinions     |
| irvine@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu | MEUM SED DEI    | can be yours too for only $50!  |
+-------------------------+-----------------+---------------------------------+
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.asian.america,alt.sex,soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.african.american,sci.electronics,misc.consumers,misc.education,misc.entrepreneurs
From: irvine@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Brent Irvine)
Subject: Education (was:  Re: D O E S   A M E R I C A   S A Y   Y E S   T O   J A P A N ?)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 22:19:26 GMT

In article <tzg2+ql@rpi.edu> nasiom@rpi.edu writes:
>Interesting topic indeed.  I must say, one of my humanities classes is all about
>
>asian countries and I've learned that the schools in America are designed to 
>"prepare" students for college NOT to educate them enouph to go out and get a
>job after graduation. 
>
>And as for Japanese schools, well, they are difficult but let me tell you, after
>a Japanese student goes to college, all he does is party.  He is so prepared
>for college that it's usually just a review and can do very little to pass.
>  
>I know that in China, if you graduate from college you are "guarentied" (sp) a
>job no matter what your grades are.
>And one last thing...parents in the US must get more involved in the school i.e.
>go to parent's night, etc.  Parents should also motivate their children and not
>yell at them constantly to do their homework.  It doesn`t work.  My parents have
>only stepped into my high school about 3 times!  But they did motivate me at
>home and they told me early on in high school why I need to do well and they 
>answered that famous "why do I need algebra" question!
>
>It seems to me that parents think it's ONLY up to the schools to teach but
>without parent's help it won't work.  

I agree!  I also think the parents supporting their children in learning
is very important, much more than attending school meetings.  When parents
become 'involved' in school, invariably the whole school becomes inundated
with politics, factions, and lots of divergent pressures.  But supporting
childeren to learn - excellent!

I was fortunate enough to have supportive parents throughout my education.



-- 
+-------------------------+-----------------+---------------------------------+
| Brent L. Irvine         | NE PER INGENIUM | The above personal opinions     |
| irvine@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu | MEUM SED DEI    | can be yours too for only $50!  |
+-------------------------+-----------------+---------------------------------+
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.asian.america,soc.culture.usa,misc.education
From: robohen@ocf.berkeley.edu (Henry Robertson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Talent in Japanese busines world
Date: 18 Dec 1992 04:53:25 GMT
Organization: U. C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: headcrash.berkeley.edu

You don't get it, do you?  It's a very simple process.  They look at a person's
socioeconomic, geographic, and academic origins, to let them continue what
generations before them had been doing all along.  "Major," is but a trivial
decoration.  Being a homogeneous society with low geneological interaction
between castes, it's not too hard for recruitment officers to predict 
exactly what an applicant's fate will be.  You see, they condescend to our
insane melting-pot demography, so when they hire foreigners, they look at
major as the single reliable barometer.  They figure that people with
exactly correct qualifications, are more likely to go on a straight track,
than foreign individualist elements, for whom Heisenberg's uncertainty
principle says that when you know their direction you don't know their
speed, yet when you know their speed you don't know their direction.  But,
with this new rice-import panic sending ripples across rice paddies all
over Japan, an important social disruption is about to take place.  Then,
truly, nominally honorific peons will have to contend with Outcastes and
Mohammedan infiltrators.  The Japanese education system has succeded in
ensuring homogeneous standards well enough, but obviously, not all farmers
will have the capacity to start up horticultural ventures in Southeast Asia.
Nor will every single farm girl marry a GI or software engineer, to defect
to the States.  What we don't know is how a major force like Japan Inc.
could be so sloppy.  What happened to backups?  Sure, economic systems
experience plagues all the time, but people depending for their lives on it
are not the same as consumers who benefit from it.  We must make that
distinction.  It's not acceptable for Japan Inc. to "go under."  If we
continue to trust her prowess without understanding her, we can look
forward to many more bizzare economic downturns.  Japan Inc. owes it to its
population to be prepared to instantly switch to another system if
something strange and unpredictable starts occuring.  The news here isn't
so much the failure of the rice ban, but the failure of Japan Inc.'s entire
structure.  Zaibatsus were technically outlawed under MacArthur, but who
can prevent the occurence of strategic marriages between companies, via
personnel dept. matchmaking.  Once the status quo fails to serve the 
interests of enough people, there will be hell to pay.
From: ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu (Rikiya Asano)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: The Beauty of Hangul: A few National Living Teasures...
Date: 13 Dec 92 23:56:44 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.kf=5dQi00iUyA0eIlX
	<9212131063@ritz.mordor.com>
	<wf=3yJq00iV145CS8R@andrew.cmu.edu>
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Ladies and Gentleman,

     I would like to extend my dedication to the Nation of North Ko-ryu and
to In-Ho Shin. This is also a personal dedication to Mark Choi who
showed me the warmth of friendship and confidence.


The Beauty of Hangul: A few National Living Teasures- Ko-ryuan style! Part One


                       
              
LACQUERWARE MASTER

National Living Teasure # 10, Kim Bong-yong is a master of Lacquerware.
Some fifty years ago, as a sixteen-year-old apprentice, he learned the
unique method
of inlaying mother-of-pearl from old masters. The production of
Lacquerware in Hangul dates back to thre fourth of fifth century B.C.,
and Although lacquered abjects originally came from Zhong Guo,
mother-of-pearl inlaid designs are a hangul addition. Some of the most
popular motils are plum branches, bamboo, flowers, birds, landscapes,
and anomals such as the crane or turtle thar symbolizes longevity.


TEMPLE PATTERN PAINTER


             Rainbow hues decorate temple eaves. As a young boy of
fourteen, Mr. Won Duk-moon entered the Buddhist priesthood and learned
the technique of temple painting. Having travelled all over Hangul and
studied art in Nippon, he is devolting his life to temple paintings. Mr.
Won, 72, is now NATIONAL LIVING TREASURE #48 and spends much of his time
restoring paintings for old temples. His latest work is a painting of a
whitebearded mountain god accompanied by a Tiger, a popular subject of
Hangul beliefs.





         I learned alot during this research.  For instance, Cheju
Island and that Chusok is a  Hangul Thankgivings Day! I learned much
more also. I am happy
about this. *^-^*
From: hh0u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Hiroshi Haga)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Baruku!
Date: 12 Dec 92 11:45:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.sf_ZqHK00WB_Eue2Zi
	<1992Dec10.180432.2460@mcs.anl.gov>
	<Qf_6MWi00iV2A0Z38l@andrew.cmu.edu>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Junior, Math/Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Baraku??  What is that???  You meant Buraku, Mr. Asano????  ^_^


Hiroshi Haga 
$@K'2l(J $@Bg;V(J(heretic+@cmu.edu)

"Oh, I plan to go to little Tokyo(the food store in Shadyside)
(And I wish one of you little nazi CMU Basters would try to ambush
(I really Jump) me."

"Excuse me for asking but are you Jewish?" - Quotes by ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu.
					
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu ()
Subject: Re: Sexuality of Japanese Girls
Organization: clearer than blir
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 13:37:01 GMT

In article <8055@skye.ed.ac.uk> T.Duncan@ed.ac.uk writes:
>In article <723970992.12051.0@unix8.andrew.cmu.edu>, si0l+@andrew.cmu.edu (Soshi Iba) writes:
>|> I've got this 'furoku' of the magazine infront of me, and it says that 
>|> out of 200 females (age 18-24), 174 answered yes and 26 no, to the question - 
>|> "have you had sex?"
>|> 
>|> Interpret this in anyway you want....
>
>
>This reminds me of a survey I saw a while back (I think it was on shopping
>preferences), where in the personal details section, from a representative
>sample of 100 Japanese teenagers, to the question "Sex?" 56 replied female, 
>43 male, and one who replied "Once, in Yamaguchi-ken".

This is a Japanese Urban Legend. I've also heard the version where the
immigration card on an international flight going to the US asks:
"Sex: _____" and a Japanese supposedly fills it in: "Once a week."
Even if you really saw it, the person knew of this commonly told tale
and was joking.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tad Perry      Internet:    tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu
               CompuServe:  70402,3020
               NIFTY-Serve: GBG01266
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: degraw@sun.lclark.edu (David Degraw)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Graft/Miyazawa
Summary: Prime Minister Miyazawa's graft is clear.  Should he resign?
Keywords: Sunaoni jinin shinasai
Date: 18 Dec 92 09:59:01 GMT
Article-I.D.: lclark.1992Dec18.095901.1959
Followup-To: None
Organization: Lewis & Clark College, Portland OR


Yet another Japanese Prime Minister has become embroiled in an 
embarassing scandal.  Kiichi Miyazawa's scandal with the Uyoku,
or boryoku-dan (gangster-related-militant-political-reactionaries),
does not carry the weight of the Lockheed conspiracy.  Nor is it
a petty sex perversion on the order of Sosuke Uno's.  Miyazawa, at the
request of the president of Sagawa-kyubin, a shipping company, has
funneled several millions of dollars to the Uyoku, to "appease" them
and 'ensure' security for Sagawa.  However, the Japanese public knew
that the chairman of Sagawa had strong ties to one of the most influential
yakuza clans in Japan (i think it was Inagawa-kai).  

It was very clear that this was a money laundering scheme.  It was
obvious Miyazawa and Sagawa had a conflict of interest.  As a result
Miyazawa is being pressured to resign.

This scandal did not have the drama of Uno's when, Uno's secretary
took 'responsibility' by committing suicide.

It seems Miyazawa is remarkably tenuous and thick-skinned to resist
the customs of honor-shame by trying to salvage the remnants of his
political carreer.  He has been loath to admit any wrongdoing, and
is holding fast to his bureaucratic office.

It does not take a clairvoyant to see where his carreer is heading.
But, I would pose to you,
	"Are Japanese politicians inherently corrupt?"
	"Is there such a thing as an incorruptible Japanese politician?"
	"Why does Japanese politics corrupt politicians?"
	"Does Japanese lobbying corrupt American politicians?"
	"Do the Japanese think Americans are easily corruptible?"

Out of concern for the state of US-Japan relations, these are questions
which trouble me deeply and which I believe, need to be addressed.
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 17:26:04 -0500 
From: Rikiya Asano <ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Nippon and  North Ko-ryo

Friends,

                  I am convined that North Ko-ryu doesn't need Nippon!
Actually, the pride in their heritage in bigger and better than America
, Nippon  and South Korea combined. You see! After what Nippon did to
the Hanguls and  helping America use Nippon in it assault on the hangul
people, Japanese officials will make some issue about some kidnapped
Japanese lady, A fictious lady at that. Where did this unko come from?
Be serious! I can not
believe that this was done. But, it will only hurt Japanese in the end.
The ldp will never learn.
From: kms10@po.CWRU.Edu (Kevin M. Squire)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Silent Night
Date: 15 Dec 1992 15:44:17 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: kms10@po.CWRU.Edu (Kevin M. Squire)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu



Ohayou gozaimasu!

Every year, my church has the tradition that it sings Silent Night in
a variety of languages at Christmas mass.  I was wondering if anyone
had the words to Silent Night in Japanese?  If you do, could you post them
or mail them to me?  I would really appreciate it!  

Siturei simasu.  Arigatou gozaimasu.

Kevin

-- 
Blest are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting
--Elisabeth Bibesco--If you have built castles in the air, your work need not
be lost; that is where they should be.  Now put foundations under them.--Henry
David Thoreau-**********   kms10@po.cwru.edu   *******   Kevin Squire   ******
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: kumamoto@sj.ate.slb.com (Danny Kumamoto)
Subject: Talent in Japanese busines world
Reply-To: kumamoto@sj.ate.slb.com (Danny Kumamoto)
Organization: Schlumberger ATE, San Jose
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 01:46:33 GMT

In article <1992Dec11.101821.24646@u.washington.edu> yoichi@carson.u.washington.edu (Yoichi Ii) writes:
>>Larry Watanabe writes:
>>   When I was in Japan, I was surprised to find that all the
>>   secretaries were university graduates. 
>
>andreas@whale.math.ryukoku.ac.jp (Andreas Knobel) writes:
>>Well, I would call this a waste of talent, would you not? I would
>>think that they became secretaries (they were women, right?)
>
>Were they 4-year or 2-year college graduates?  I'm sure there are
>many, fine, 2-year schools, but some are no more than a glorified
>finishing school for women. 

In Japan, with most jobs (male or female), it usually doesn't matter
what your college major was, since management will decide for you
where you should work at (what matters is which college you came
from).  I know one mid-20's woman who majored in fishery (at Toodai)
but is now working as a system engineer (straight off of college) at a
well-known Japanese company (IBM Japan :-)!  Also, there was an
article recently about many general purpose programmers who were
sent-home-for-some-indeterminate-time (i.e., "laid-off") due to the
recession in Japan and, get this, most (all?) of them majored in non-
computer/engineering degrees!

My point is that this "waste" in talent cuts through both sexes.

Danny

Internet:  kumamoto@sj.ate.slb.com
SLOWNET:   Schlumberger Technologies, ATE
           1601 Technology Drive, San Jose, CA  95115, U.S.A.

Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA