HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mhs@ukc.ac.uk (M.H.Smith)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: non-natives in Japan
Date: 27 Jul 92 15:13:09 GMT
Reply-To: mhs@ukc.ac.uk (M.H.Smith)
Organization: Electronic Engineering Lab, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.

In article <2133@aegis.or.jp> davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane) writes:
>Besides the name sticking point, would it be possible for somebody
>born in Japan of Korean parents to get Japanese citizenship at all?
>What I mean is, is the problem for Koreans that they want dual
>nationality and they can't get it so they chose to live in Japan
>with Korean passports?  Does anybody know anything about this? 

My Japanese teacher is a third generation Korean-Japanese. I was
discussing the subject of Japanese racism towards Koreans with her the
other day.

She thinks of herself as Japanese, and to all intents and purposes she
is (without knowing where she comes from or her name, it would be
impossible for anyone to tell she has Korean ancestory). It would be
fairly easy for her to take out Japanese citizenship. The reason she
doesn't want to is not so much that she would have to give up her
Korean name (Korean-Japanese have Japanese names they use anyway) but
that she doesn't see any point as she would never be accepted. All
official documents would have Naturalized-Japanese (Shin-nihonjin) on
them, so she would never be able to escape from the prejudice anyway.

Malcolm Smith.
From: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: OnZen Story (1)
Date: 21 Jul 92 20:49:25 GMT
Reply-To: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Organization: Horizon Research


One day the Novice was in the bath tub with the
Onzen Master. He asked, "Master, why does soap
residue accumulate in the navel."

The Master replied, "What is a navel if not a
place for soap residue to gather?"

The novice then asked the Onzen Master, "Master,
what do you call that black stuff between your
toes?"

The Onzen Master replied, "Better to ask than to
clean it without considering it's place in the
universe."

The novice asked a second time, "But Master....
what do you call it?"

The Onzen Master replied calmly, "What we call it
has no meaning compared to what it is.... and what it
is has no meaning compared to what it isn't.... and
what it isn't is the key to finding what we don't
call it before we know it's real name."

The novice was becoming very anxious and grabbed the
Onzen Master by the throat, shook, and screamed,
"Listen you dumb &*%$#... what's the name of the G@@
D%*$ black stuff between your %$#@!&*@ toes!"

The Onzen Master broke the grip of the Novice, jumped
out of the bath, and ran into a maze of twisty little
passages all the same.... and yet all different, but
not all exactly as much different as they were almost
all differently the same before the sameness of their
differences was evident.

The novice was amazed. He finished washing his toes,
and wiped himself with a wet towel that once could
have been dry, if it did not already seem wet.

The novice then understood the difference between wet
and dry, and wondered at it. He called into the maze
of twisty little passages, "Oh Onzen Master! Now I
understand the secret of towels!"

An echoing voice called from the caves, "That black
stuff between your toes is called 'Na Toe'."

(I'm getting the hang of this religion stuff)

- Bill

Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: dirceu@taurus.cse.kyutech.ac.jp (Dirceu G. Cavendish Jr.)
Subject: Re: Culture and Religion (was Re: Japanese Bible
	<1992Jul28.142025.5712@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>
Organization: Kyushu Institute of Tech., Iizuka, JAPAN.
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 05:48:32 GMT

In article <1992Jul28.142025.5712@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> asano@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (ASANO Yoshiteru) writes:

 >
 >About those 'host families' faithful to their religion:
 >I had a friend whose host family is so faithful to X'ty that she was forced to
 >go to church every Sunday and was told how good X'tians should behave.  She
 >certainly hated that kind of 'pushy' acts of the family and always complained
 >about it.  Of course that depends on a person but Japanese in general are
 >living without any religion and (IMHO) religion is for those who 'get lost',
 >who had some trouble and searched for a way to resolve it.  (You can flame
 >on this, I just feel like that.)  So, a proverb says "kurushii toki no 
 >kami danomi" (turning to religion in times of distress).  Petitioning for
 >this-worldly profit, e.g. good business, passing exams, having a traffic
 >safety and whatever you name it, seems to be one of the basic motivation to
 >pray.  Happy Japanese generally don't have any religion...
 >   Of course, I have many X'tian and Budhist friends who are 'family tradition'.
 >	yoshi
 >

Relating to religions, there is always the argument that we need something
to explain things that can not be explained or solve unsolveable problems.

Just in case, "turning to religion in times of distress" is not the
way christians are suppose to behave (although some people do behave like
that).  For christians, Christianity is more than asking to God or
Christ things we want or need in time of trouble, but a full
relationship between creature and creator.


D. Cavendish
Kyushu Institute of Technology
E-mail: dirceu@taurus.cse.kyutech.ac.jp

Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: sige@twics.co.jp
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Info on Chinese/Japanese/Korean character relationships
Date: 20 Jul 92 19:02:57 GMT
Organization: TWICS, Tokyo, Japan

harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom) writes:

>        Will Japanese companies use the original JIS ordering
>        domestically and Unicode for the international market?

I think ordering isn't comparatively big problem.
If market needs conversion, they will do. (If they can.)
But, if UNICODE hasn't identical KANJIs of JIS, they can't convert.

Shigeru Hirano (sige@twics.co.jp)

Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: okazaki@HPP.Stanford.EDU (Shin'ichiro Okazaki)
Subject: Re: Info wanted on Akihabara (Tokyo)
Organization: KSL, Stanford University, California, USA
	<1992Jul14.175213.9734@lsil.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 15:29:32 GMT

In article <1992Jul14.175213.9734@lsil.com> mitch@lsil.com (Mitch Sako) writes:

 > From all of my experience and everything that I've read, you will be very
 > hard-pressed to find any bargains in Japan on electronics.  The principal
 > reason for this is that Japanese electronics is dumped overseas.  Although
 > you are in Canada, I think you can find better bargains in the US than you
 > can in Japan.

I have seen a lot of issues about dumping of Japanese products.  I cannot
help saying a word.  I don't think they are dumped now.

1.Please note that most Japanese prefer to electronics products which
have many functions rather than simple ones.  When I came to US I found
most products are simply designed compared with those for domestic
(Japan) market.  If you are going to buy 19 inch TV receiver,  you may
find cheaper model in US than in Japan, but those model in Japan have
more functions.  If compared with one which is the same model and is
made in Japan, the price is lower in Japan.  
You may find the drastic price difference between 19inch TVs and
over-29inch TVs.  Why?  The former model is designed as a economy model
and produced at overseas plants with lower costs.  The latter model has
almost the same functions with those for Japanese domestic market and is
mostly produced in Japan.  You can get 32inch TV at lower price in Japan.

2.Suggested retail price and actual price
I know the flow system of the products (sorry, I did not recall the
appropriate English words) is one of the problems in Japan.  Since several
wholesale may deal with products until the products are sold in stores
localed in country area,  manufacturer's suggested retail price tends to
be higher in Japan than in US., and actually sold price is higher in
local small stores or stores in country side.  You might think price in
Japan is higher when you see the suggested retail prices.  But if you buy
at a large retail store,  you can get 20% to 40% discount as a actual
price.  15% to 25% discount from suggested retail price for newly
appeared model is common case in Akihabara.  So, I do not think
manufacturers are shipping overseas at lower prices than to domestic
market. 
--
Shinichiro OKAZAKI                     Knowledge Systems Laboratory
okazaki@hpp.stanford.edu               Stanford University
"ALL opinions in this article are mine as a private person."
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: Reasons for rise in violent crimes? (Re: policewomen may now carry guns)
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 16:10:49 GMT

In article <SMITTIE.92Jul18154319@beach.csulb.edu> smittie@beach.csulb.edu (Smittie) writes:
>With regard to police and their guns: While serving with the US Navy Shore
>Patrol in Sasebo and later in Yokosuka, my mates and I were always amazed at
>the holstering of police firearms. There is no way in hell a police officer
>could bring his weapon to bear in anything even remotely resembling a surprise
>situation. The holster itself is a button down holster and the gun itself is
>frequently tied down to the belt. I asked an officer about this once and he
>said with confidence, "if I am going to need it, I'll know ahead of time." All
>I could do was shake my head.

Yep. A real pity to see that kind of naivte' have to disappear. In their
defense, a fair amount of them ARE trained in judo (or some other martial art:
I believe a couple memebers of the Japanese Olympic team are cops) so they
should be able to handle themselves in most one-on-one situations. Of course,
they are still not used to dealing with determined criminals of the sort we
find more common here.

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
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Xref: sparky soc.culture.japan:6301 soc.culture.taiwan:11343 soc.culture.hongkong:9325
From: michael@izumi.DIALix.oz.au (Michael Studte)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.taiwan,soc.culture.hongkong
Subject: Learning about World War II in Japan
Distribution: world
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 17:06:14 GMT
Organization: JAFWA, Cal-Animage Zeta, Perth, Western Australia

Could you guys PLEASE take this out of rec.arts.anime? The topic has
strayed thousands of miles from GRAVE OF THE FIREFLY.

Thank you.

+-------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| Michael Studte    | Japanese Animation Fans of Western Australia |
| 46 Hackbridge Way | CAL-ANIMAGE ZETA, Perth, Australia   +-------+
| Bayswater  6053   | Internet: michaels@DIALix.oz.au      |
| AUSTRALIA         |           michael@izumi.DIALix.oz.au |
+-------------------+ FidoNet:  3:690/728 (MegaTokyo 2033) |
|  Inokuma Yawara   |--------------------------------------+
|        for        | Indiana Kou: "CARROTS!! Why did it   |
|       GOLD!       |               have to be carrots??"  |
+-------------------+--------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: Reasons for rise in violent crimes? (Re: policewomen may now carry guns)
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 15:05:36 GMT

In article <nlq2vi8@fido.asd.sgi.com> jice@echo.asd.sgi.com (John Eisenman) writes:
>In article <1992Jul23.153457.1665@island.COM>, fester@island.COM (Mike
>Fester) writes:
>
>|> Standard issue for Tokyo police is a .38 caliber revolver. I've seen them.
>|> Same weapon as the US police used to carry as standard equipment.

>I don't mean to nit pick, but what is the "US police".  It seems to me
>that every police force in the US chooses it's own weapons.  I have a
>good friend who works for the NYC housing police.  He tells me that the
>housing and regular (surface) police use a different pistol than the
>transit police.  He has a revolver, the transit police have a semi-
>automatic.
>
>Also, NYC police are allowed to carry a "backup gun" with them --
>supposedly of the same type as there standard issue.  However, he
>tells me that some of the officers carry a semi-automatic as there
>backup instead.

Consider the nit-picked, with no offense taken.

Until vary recently (about 15-20 years ago), all police forces I knew of
(FBI, Highway patrols, municipal police forces, etc) all used the .38 calibre
revolver as their standard weapon. I believe this is still the standard issue
for most departments (though an officer may buy his/her own). On a departmental
level, buying a large amount of weapons and ammo of the same type gave a sub-
stantial savings. Recently, some departments have switched to a 9 mm standard,
and almost all departments allow their officers to purchase their own weapon,
though I believe they are reimbursed for the cost of their ammunition.

I believe Europe has used the 9 mm as a standard for a lot longer than we
have. 

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: asano@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (ASANO Yoshiteru)
Subject: Results of Japanese players in Barcelona
Summary: I'd like to know the results of actions of japanese in Barcelona.
Keywords: Olympics
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 16:25:22 GMT

Hello, everyone in Japan.
I'm in the Unived States and it's very hard for us to get info on actions of
Olympians from Japan in Barcelona.  Someone in Japan, please keep us posted
the results of the games which involves Japanese atheletes.
    Thanks in advance
         yoshi
From: ntetsuya@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Nishimura)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Reasons for rise in violent crimes? (Re: policewomen may now carry guns)
Date: 27 Jul 92 20:21:31 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523

In article <1992Jul27.180653.3659@island.COM> fester@island.COM (Mike Fester) writes:
>
>Yes, I knew the Jieitai carried Sigs, but isn't there a Japanese pistol 
>manufacturer? I remember that when the US decided to replace the .45, a 
>Japanese 9 mm was tested and found to be quite good. Do you remember the
>name of the manufacturer?
>
>Mike
>-- 
It's Shin-Chu^o^ Ko^gyo^.  Their brand is New Nambu (I mistakenly wrote "Nambe"
in my previous posting).                          ^                          ^
They also manufacture ammuniton supply for JSDF and police forces.

Another brand of Japanese firearms (I am not sure if it's of Shin-Chu^o^ Ko^gyo^ though): SKB, which is probably known well among trap and skeet shooters.  But
anyway my feeling is there is only one firearms manufacture in Japan (Could 
somebody confirm or correct my understanding).

If you want to know more about small firearms in Japan, you might want to take
a look at books by Masami Tokoi, and a magazine called "Gun" published from
Kokusai Shuppan Co.  People at the company should know and provide you with 
enough information about the situation of firearms in Japan.  In previous issuesthey covered a new side arm trial of JSDF as well as of US Military Forces.


Just for reference.

				Tetsuya nishimura
From: mitch@dc49.dc (Mitch Sako)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: BBS available in Japan
Date: 24 Jul 92 23:01:05 GMT
Reply-To: mitch@dc49.dc
Organization: LSI Logic Corporation

In article 20579@peponi.wcc.govt.nz, tan_k@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz () writes:
>Can anyone help wiht the addresses of BBS's in Japan or just in 
>HOnshu. Have a friend teaching as a Jeapanese Exchange Teacher
>who is trying to contactt ohter BBS's people there. Teaching in
>a pretty isolated community so needs any oust
>outside contact to keep reasonable sanity. Thanks.


There is a BBS in Akihabara in Tokyo called JANISIIT which echoes
RIME (relaynet international) to most of the world.  The BBS number
is 81-3255-8856.  The sysop is Pete Perkins who is a very helpful
and nice fellow.  I don't know if this helps.

---
Mitch Sako	LSI Logic Corp.		Phone	408-433-4187
internet:	msako@lsil.com		FAX	408-433-8796
uucp:		lsil!msako
RIME:		->REDBARON, conference=POLITICS
Disclaimer:	The opinions expressed are mine and mine alone
From: davev@bnr.ca (David Villeneuve)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Japanese language bible
Date: 28 Jul 92 02:45:54 GMT
Reply-To: davev@bnr.ca
Organization: Bell-Northern Research

In article <1992Jul27.121118.24957@relay.nswc.navy.mil>, snorthc@nswc.navy.mil (Stephen Northcutt) writes:
|> My family has agreed to host an exchange student from Japan for
|> a few weeks.  I would like to be able to provide a bible.  Can 
|> someone give me a mail-order pointer to a good translation?

  Japan does not seem to be the land of mail-order, at least for
  such things.  

  However, your local Bible Society should be able to get one 
  for you.  I know that back in Ottawa (Canada) we were able to
  buy Bibles and tapes in Japanese (and many many other languages)
  for reasonable prices.  The modern translations are easier
  to read.  You can even get them with furigana :-)

  If you are ever in Tokyo (or know someone there) there is a 
  Christian bookstore in the student center next to the MacDonalds
  near Ochanomizu station(2nd floor - Japanese, 3rd floor - English).
  Beware though ... books seem to be more pricy here :-(

  BTW, I'm in Japan ... my mail daemon is in Canada :-)

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Villeneuve, davev@bnr.ca   | Anata no ninhongo wa jozu desu ne!
Bell-Northern Research, JAPAN   | Iie, mada, jozu dewa arimasen!
My opinions are my own, though please don't quote me on that.
From: rto051@hippo.sps.mot.com (Chang Suk-Kyung)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Japanese language bible
Date: 28 Jul 92 01:32:32 GMT
Organization: TDO

In article <kerry.712249241@manning> kerry@cs.UAlberta.CA (Todyruik Kerry D) writes:
>snorthc@nswc.navy.mil (Stephen Northcutt) writes:

>>My family has agreed to host an exchange student from Japan for
>>a few weeks.  I would like to be able to provide a bible.  Can 
>>someone give me a mail-order pointer to a good translation?

>>Many thanks.

>>===================================================================

>Whoah!  The first question I have is "Did they ask for one?"  I am sick
>of people who think that their religion is the "correct" religion.

>Most Japanese people are Buddhist and Shinto.  While it is great to share
>with them them your city and your culture, it is unacceptible to force your
>religion upon them.

>These students are coming to north america to sample our culture, practice
>their English, and have a good time.  They are not coming to go to church
>or change their beliefs.

[another page of ranting deleted]

First of all, "most Japanese people" are NOT Buddhist and Shinto --
most Japanese FAMILIES are _tranditionally_ Buddhist and Shinto.  Very
big difference here.  Many know that their family is traditionally 
Buddhist, but don't even know which sect.  Most Japanese are basically
"mushukyo" -- they don't of themselves believe in or belong to anything.
This is particularly true of young people.  The chances of an exchange
student having some kind of religion of their own to the extent of
being offended by a Bible is astronomically small.

Second, there I didn't see the original poster saying that they were
planning on forcing anything on anybody.  If they had said, "I plan
to hold a gun at their head and make them read it", then maybe your
tirade would have been justified...   It's true that people do
sometimes get carried away in their zeal to share their religion
with other people, but it seems like you were a bit hasty in 
jumping down the poor guy's throat here...

Finally, you yourself said that they "are coming to North America to
sample our culture."  What is more cultural than religion?  If you
go to Japan, you go to see Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.  
You go to festivals that are almost invariably connected to a 
particular religion and/or a particular temple or shrine.  Japanese
literature and drama (the traditional stuff) are full of religious
references.  Similarly, it seems to me that religion is involved in
a large part of America's history and culture, and is an important
part of many peoples' lives today.  If the student really is interested
in learning about American life and American culture, they aren't going
to be offended to find that religion is a part of it.

>I hope I did not offend anyone.  I could have spoke much harsher on this
>subject, but I tried to keep MY beliefs as objective as possible.

Yeah, we could tell.  :)
From: danac@morc.asd.sgi.com (Dana Crom)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Reasons for rise in violent crimes? (Re: policewomen may now carry guns)
Date: 27 Jul 92 21:54:22 GMT
Followup-To: soc.culture.japan
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA

In article <Jul27.204049.66261@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> ntetsuya@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Nishimura) writes:
..
>I forgot to include some more about this.  Five-chambered revolvers is not odd
>at all.  Actually one of the famous is Smith & Wesson M36/M60 Chief's Special, 
>which used to be the favorite of undercover officers (the gun is still in 
>production).  The ODD thing is that it is said that they load only four rounds
>to make one of the five chambers they have empty.  And they usually do not carryextra ammuniton with them.  (Somebody please confirm or correct the infomation)
>
>And about a safety on the revolver, as far as I know, only one company in 
>in Germany (previously West Germany) called KORTH manufactures series of 
>revolvers with a manual safety.  Otherwise almost all revolvers (as long as
>I know) have no manual safeties that are found on many semi-automatic pistols.

Actually, a "safety" has little to do as to whether you can safely carry
a revolver with a live cartridge under the hammer.  All a safety does is
prevent the hammer cocking (double action) and falling on the cartridge's
primer (both single and double action).

On most older revolvers, the end of the hammer had the firing pin attached,
so that if the hammer was down (not cocked for firing) the firing pin was
actually resting on the primer! All that was needed to set the cartridge off
was a good rap on the back of the hammer, a heavy jar, etc. For safety's
sake, these guns are usually carried with an empty chamber under the hammer.

Most of the more modern revolver designs have a "transfer bar" or an inertial
firing pin that makes only momentary contact with the primer. You could
beat on the back of the uncocked hammer with a rock without any danger of
the gun going off.  Because of this, you can safely carry any of these with
a live cartridge under the hammer.  And those US police departments still
using revolvers usually carry their weapons with all six chambers loaded.
-- 
-----------------------+------------------------+------------------------------
Dana Crom              | Silicon Graphics, Inc. |  Smile - let them *WONDER* 
danac@morc.asd.sgi.com | (415) 390-1449         |  what you've been up to . . .