HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jcliu@four-lab4.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Liu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Plutonium/Greenpeace
Date: 17 Nov 1992 17:30:53 GMT
Organization: UC Berkeley Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
NNTP-Posting-Host: four-lab4.berkeley.edu
Keywords: more biased info courtesy of UPI

In article <Bxuxrz.5Fr@world.std.com> cmr@world.std.com 
(Charles M Richmond) writes:
  >
  >	TOKYO (UPI) -- Toting a coffin with a plywood map of Japan inside and
  [stuff deleted]
  >	Naoki Ohara, executive director for Greenpeace Japan, blamed the
  >Japanese government, as well as the local media, for not informing the
  >Japanese public fully as to the dangers of plutonium.
  >	Opponents to the shipment say one gram of plutonium released in the
  >air could give thousands of people in the area cancer.

   Unless there is sufficient energy to detonate the stuff and send it into
the high atmostphere, Plutonium ain't going spread to a thousand people.
In addition, the figure of "1000" is based on a "linear" hypothesis that
if high chronic doses cause a certain increase in leukemias, then low
doses will provide a "linearly" proportional number of leukemias.  This
is very conservative and everyone in the health physics business knows
this is incorrect.  

   The whole argument is over whether there exists a threshold exposure level
which no statistically significant increase can be detected.  The answer 
is obviously "YES" since we as humans have evolved on a planet constantly
bathed in radiation.

  >	Ohara also said he hopes President-elect Bill Clinton's
  >administration will change U.S. policy of endorsing Japan's
  >transportation of plutonium.

   Clinton is anti-nuke because he's stupid and a slave to political
interests.  Just as bashing Japan is popular, bashing a nuclear Japan
(or Nuclear USA for that matter) is more popular.
   Japan seeks long term energy security through the use of nuclear power.
France does too, and both France and Japan are opting to rely more on
bred Plutonium fuel and to blend that with Uranium in what is known as
mixed-oxide fuel or MOX for short.  My friend at Electricite de France
tells me that they have been using MOX fuel for 8 to 10 years with good
success.  

   To all the people who oppose the use of Nuclear Power reactors, I would
challenge them to first get educated in the actual risks of its use, the
exceptional safety record of its history, and the other available
options.  I further challenge the opponents to prove the thermodynamics
and economic efficiency of their alternatives (and of course to show why
they are better than nuclear in the current short run...)

Jaa, James
=======================================================================
James C. Liu |    Kakkoi KARAOKE addict and Nuclear Engineer  .....   |
             |    Just another karaokeing environmentalist who        |
             |    supports nuclear energy.                            |
=======================================================================
From: ricko@ee.uts.edu.au (Rick Jelliffe)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: the mystery of Rikiya Asano
Date: 20 Nov 92 05:25:43 GMT
Organization: University of Technology, Sydney
NNTP-Posting-Host: schutz.ee.uts.edu.au

kanekawa@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Nobuyasu Kanekawa) writes:

>I am extremely confused when I read this newsgroup. :-)

>Do you know which is true ? :-)
>  (1) Rikiya Asano is not REAL Rikiya Asano.
>  (2) Rikiya Asano's mom has commited suicide.
>  (3) Rikiya Asano's mom's maiden name is Taguchi.
>  (4) Rikiya Asano's VISA has expired.
>  (5) Rie-chan's marriage.
>  (6) Right-wing killed 47 students.
>  (7) Restriction on photos with pubic hair is relaxed.

(8) Restrictions on VISAs with Rikiya Asano's REAL pubic hair
makes 47 students expire, including Rie-chan's mom.

-ricko
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: Mark Crispin <mrc@Ikkoku-Kan.Panda.COM>
Subject: Japan Socialist Party -> Social Democrats
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Organization: University of Washington
Mime-Version: 1.0
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 15:13:28 GMT

Obviously, the name change is to foster identification with Western European
Social Democratic parties, a largely amiable group of well-intentioned old men
who passionately believe in the welfare state to solve the nation's problems.

I'm not sure the JSP can fit the part.  Traditionally, the JSP's main purpose
has been to amuse the Japanese population by getting into endless ideological
debates with the JCP (Japan Communist Party) as to who has remained true to
Marx.  Generally, you need to have a PhD in 19th Century Classical Marxism to
understand these arguments.

I'll agree that Doi Takako did a good job in shaking up the LDP complacency a
few years ago, but unfortunately the effect was only temporary before it was
back to business as usual.
From: KKR102@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Starting salaries of engineers in Japan
Date: 20 Nov 92 16:25:33 GMT
Organization: Penn State University

Hi!!
Can somebody help me in finding starting salaries of chemical engineers
in US multinationals in Japan?
How is the cost of living, especially in Osaka?
thanks
Kamal Rungta
From: ross-c@scs.leeds.ac.uk
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Madonna's _Sex_ banned in Japan
Date: 10 Nov 92 21:51:53 GMT
Organization: The University of Leeds, School of Computer Studies
Via: uk.ac.leeds.scs; Tue, 10 Nov 1992 21:52:08 +0000
X-News-Gateway: NewsGateway@phaze.UUCP (NewsGateway 1.0 by Pierre Rioux)
To: usenet@phaze.cam.org

Re: Pubic Hair being banned even in comics in Japan.

This is (in my experience) the truth, but I know of a bizarre exception.
In "What's Michael", volume one, there is a story about Michael (the cat)
being used as a foil when filming a porno video. In one scene he is
placed in front of the model's crotch, but a fly appears and he runs off
chasing it.

Very surprisingly, these frames show the model's pubic hair drawn in realistic,
close, detail.

Now I know some people might say that probably the censors weren't checking
What's Michael, but does anyone have an explanation for this.

Cheers,

Ross-c
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: smittie@csulb.edu (Smittie)
Subject: Re: Who started all this gaijin myth?! (was Re: Genitals in Japan)
Organization: Cal State Long Beach
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1992 03:54:30 GMT

>White Americans learned in the 1960's that identifying black Americans by
>their race was offensive to blacks.  We don't say ``that negro'' or ``that
>black'' any more.  We say ``that person''.  Japanese people need to learn the
>same type of courtesy.

Nah, I just think Mr. Crispin needs to get out more. America singles out
everyone by race as like everyone else does. The news always points out that it
was an "African-American" that was shot in South Central LA last night, and it
was the "Caucasan" man who robbed the liquor store. The "Hispanic" woman
managed to defend herself against the "Asian" attacker and was then assisted by
two teenage boys.

Sorry Mr. Crispin, I think you're off on this one.

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.
From: ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu (Rikiya Asano)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Japanese exchange student killed in Louisiana...
Date: 16 Nov 92 01:16:50 GMT
	<Bxqprn.JLK@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Mr Warf,

              Damn, this is hard! Did not indicate at anytime that trespassing 
was an issue with this case? No. I merely pointed out the "Law" as it
applies to trespassing. The Grand Jury indict the killer(accused) on
manslaughter. Personally, I don't not care as to what was posted on the
killers(accused) property. I was talking strickly about trespassing. So,
please don't twist my meanings.(Will this be a cause for you to join the
others). This is funny! You are wrong about what a "state expect one to
assume", If this was the case. Anyone could shoot anyone else who
wondered on to their property. Your are partly wrong as to your
statement "posting a sign is not required to prosecute trespassers.

> 
>Obviously, you know less than nothing about U.S. law or trial procedure.
>Please don't lecture us if you don't know what you're talking about.
>The defense has to prove NOTHING, they merely have to establish a 
>reasonable doubt of whatever the prosecution attempts to prove.


                  It is of a fact that you know even less than I do. If
the prosecution ascertains that one has broken the law the defense has
to do more than represent reasonable doubt. Your taking reasonable doubt
to far.  I suggest that you stop talking with your ass and go and
research. LA Law and the People court are only glimpes of the entire
law. Try to study reasonable doudt: where and when it is used and to
what circumstances. Please! In my mind, I have made 
my judgement about the Killer. And, that is to pray that God will
forgive him of this killing. I get know pleasure in seeing this person
suffer. But, I feel bad when people like you try to establish that Young
Yoshi did something wrong. You only  reply to some of my responses but
the next time try to answer my questions 
specifically. Please! I don't distort. 

                                              I see that you are aready
loading up the shot down my new President and my old new congress. Even
before they get a chance. You *&^%%$&*! Why don't you give them a
chance. What kind of a MAN are you. Mr. Bush got his chance. Be Kool
dude. Let America Change! 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: smittie@csulb.edu (Smittie)
Subject: Re: Train from Osaka to Tokyo
Organization: Cal State Long Beach
	<MARC.92Nov19183947@marc.watson.ibm.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 00:46:30 GMT

>Have you considered spending the two days in Kyoto instead?  I personally
>much prefer it to Tokyo - and you'll spend a lot less time traveling.

I have not been following this thread but assume we are talking about tourist
mode. As such I too would recommend Kyoto over Tokyo.

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.
From: kms10@po.CWRU.Edu (Kevin M. Squire)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re-introduction - Does America Say Yes to Japan?
Date: 23 Nov 1992 04:07:07 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


The following posts have been the subject of some debate for a while
on s.j.c.  Mike Fester, in particular, has over time taken part one
and has made counterpoints for many of the arguements (see "Re: Please
give your opinions . . ." over the past month or so).  However, as he
said in his postings, he didn't have part 2.  I'm going to post both
parts.  If you haven't yet seen the article, I would highly recommend
reading it, if for no other reason than to provoke thought.  In my 
opinion, Mike Fester has done well at pointing out some fallacies in 
the article, and it is rather one sided.  However, I do feel that the
author does make some valid points.  If nothing else, like I said earlier,
it should be thought provoking.  It is _extremely_ long, so unless you
have a lot of time, I would recommend saving it somewhere and reading
it over a couple of sittings.  It is also by ftp availiable at 
monu6.cc.monash.edu.au and uesama.tjp.washington.edu (and I assume at the
mirror in Finland too) as "japanyes".

As a side note, also availiable at these sites is the full text of
"A Japan That Can Say No" by Akio Morita and Shintaro Ishihara ("japanno").
I assume that this has been debated much in the past on s.j.c., although I 
don't know, since I've only been reading the newsgroup for a few months.
Again, this too is a very thought provoking piece of literature.

My motives here are not to get you to believe the what is presented in
either of these writings, but to get you to think about some of the 
issues they bring up, and maybe discuss them.

Happy contemplations, 

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: keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Please give your opinions...
Date: 17 Nov 1992 07:16:50 GMT
Organization: The University of Western Australia
NNTP-Posting-Host: wapsy.psy.uwa.oz.au

Since nobody bothered looking up a dictionary, I looked up
the word, "gaijin" in Koujien, 3rd ed. (Tokyo: Iwanami)

Gaijin
1. people outside one's circle; people who one does not
socialize with; stranger
2. enemy
3. foreigner

Sense 1 and 2 are historical usage. Quotes from Heike
Monogatari (The Tale of the Heike family) and Ryojin Hishou,
both dates back to 12th Century? or earlier were listed.
No one obviously use the word today for Sense 1 or 2.
However, if etymological origin of a word tells us
something about psychology behind the use of the word,
my theory to surmise that the world was used to exclude
"gaijin" was not at all far fetched.

Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: djohnson@cs.ucsd.edu (Darin Johnson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Who started all this gaijin myth?! (was Re: Genitals in Japan)
Date: 24 Nov 92 04:40:00 GMT
Organization: =CSE Dept., U.C. San Diego

>It first amazed me how
>people here can do it, like saying "oh, he's a Puerto Rican.  Can't you
>tell?"  I know many other Japanese can't do that either.

Well, as native Californian, I can't do it very well either.  I grew
up in a small town that was mostly half hispanic (Mexican) and half
white.  After living in big cities for over ten years now, I still get
confused (except for Armenians and Mennonites which were well
represented back home).  I often cannot tell if somebody is Jewish or
not, even by their names, whereas someone from New York would probably
have no trouble.

Also, if someone gets your nationality wrong - don't get mad!
(Generally, I try to not even guess :-)  For instance, I used
to be really bad at telling Japanese from Chinese from Korean,
etc.  This was *not* because "they all look the same", but because
everyone looks different and I hadn't yet learned what was similar.
-- 
Darin Johnson
djohnson@ucsd.edu  --  How come my mind went off for lunch before I did?
From: tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Try it again - RE: Please give me your opinions...
Date: 17 Nov 92 09:30:06 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Nov17.093006.6389
Distribution: na
Organization: clearer than blir

In article <1992Nov16.154743.1204@island.COM> fester@island.COM (Mike Fester) writes:
>
>In GENERAL, starting salaries in Japan are lower, and certainly more similar
>across-the-board (ie, staring bankers make the same as starting engineers who
>make the same as starting account reps, etc). There are several things that
>work to the advantage of a salary in Japan:
>
> [deletions]
>
>2) Japanese taxes are much lower here. My income at my first job was
>   taxed at 10% (I was a full shain). My second job (keiyakusha), my
>   income was withheld at 20%, but after my deductions, I paid at 10%.
>   Saved several thousand $$ that way. Note: my current job in the US
>   pays more than my job as a shain, but less than my work as a
>   keiyakusha. Also note that the sales tax in Japan is 3% everywhere,
>   and local taxes run about $1000 a year.

The general thrust of your entire post (not all given here) is correct.
I only want to nitpick on a couple of points regarding the above:

1. Sales tax in Japan is 3% but what the Japanese gov't hides is that
   this tax is applied at every market layer. I.e. the maker charges
   the wholesaler 3%, the wholesaler charges the retailer 3%, the
   retailer charges the customer ("end user") 3%. The full cost of
   this tax is of course being passed along to the consumer and the
   net effect is a tax closer to 8-9% on average. (The shouhizei was
   intentionally set up this way, to appear lower to consumers than it
   actually is.) Plus it applies to food, rent, utilities... Absolutely
   everything. It is *not* a minor tax by any stretch of the
   imagination when you consider the full implications of how it's
   implemented.

2. Local taxes are completely inconsistent. Some localities have very,
   very high juuminzei. (Like Kanagawa-ken where I lived the last year
   I was in Japan.) On the other hand, some localities have relatively
   low rates. So it's not possible to make a blanket statement that
   it's a reasonable tax. Also, it's tied to your salary for the
   previous tax year, so it's kind of like an income tax. It's also
   tied to the size/quality of place you live in, so if you live in a
   recently-built, decent-sized place with say five rooms and happened
   to earn good money the year before (say 8 million+ yen) this can
   easily get up to 4,000 to 5,000 dollars.  Again this is not always
   a minor tax; there are a variety of factors that can make it much
   higher than even your income tax.

Just my two cents worth.

-- Tad Perry   Internet:    tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu
               CompuServe:  70402,3020
               NIFTY-Serve: GBG01266
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: gior@eecg.toronto.edu (GIOR Kevin Kyu-Sik)
Subject: Re: Train from Osaka to Tokyo
Date: 22 Nov 92 19:54:32 GMT

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

>>It takes about 40 minutes from Osaka airport to Shin Osaka station via
>>JR train (about 530 Yen)

>I didn't know the JR had a station at Osaka International. What's
>it's name? 

I'm not so sure, but I think there was one, (correct me if I'm wrong :) )

>>>but you could ride the airport bus to Kyoto and it will let off
>>>right in front of Kyoto station. 

>>>>How much money would be involved in return train tickets to Tokyo?
>>>Something on the order of 25,000 yen, I would say.

>>I took 'Hikari-Super-Express-Ticket' for Shinkiansen which costs 12,750 Yen
>>(as of July, 9. 1992) It makes only a few stops and takes about 4 hours from
>>Osaka to Tokyo. If you take the train making more frequent stops, the fare
>>would be cheaper.

>Really? 12,750 yen for a round trip?

Nope. A single trip from Kyoto to Tokyo. (Sorry for mistake). From Osaka to 
Tokyo single trip, I think it costs about 13,800 Yen.

Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: naru@eng.umd.edu (Naruhisa Takashima)
Subject: Re: How bad are Japanese drivers?
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 15:43:38 GMT
Organization: College of Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park
Originator: naru@valkyrie.eng.umd.edu


I don't know about driver instructors, but IMHO Japanese drivers are 
among the best in the world. Oh NO! I've made a gneral statement!

One things my friends gripe about when they come to the U.S. is how 
poorly Americans drive.  This, I believe, is not so much about the 
actual driving skills, (Although getting a lisence in U.S.A is a joke 
compared to getting one in Japan) but little stuff, like turning 
without signaling. Ofcourse, this is not a big deal here because
the there are less cars on a given stretch of road.

My 2 cents,
Naruhisa Takashima 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,talk.politics.guns
From: shaffer@achilles.ctd.anl.gov (Michael A. Shaffer)
Subject: Re: Yoshi Hattori
Organization: Argonne National Laboratory
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 18:22:46 GMT

In article <justin.722232512@mik.uky.edu>, justin@nx30.mik.uky.edu (justin sullivan) writes:
|> In <1992Nov19.195755.24555@jetsun.weitek.COM> nadja@jetsun.weitek.COM (Nadja Adolf) writes:
|> 
|> >What makes you think there aren't Asian criminals. Ever heard of the
|> >Vietnamese gangs? They are sort of a problem in some places.
|> 
|> I have a friend who is from Saigon, who's family left when the government 
|> threw them out. I understand that the biggest criminals are the government,
|> whom NOBODY can trust.

Wow. Same here!

				mike
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: fester@island.COM (Mike Fester)
Subject: Re: Pets immigration procedure
Keywords: pets
Organization: /usr/local/rn/organization
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 15:40:04 GMT

In article <BxzIMG.39o@news.cso.uiuc.edu> kig9584@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Kyoko Inoue ) writes:
>
>
>Going through the immigration procedure at Narita Airport is
>tough enough for the non-Japanese people.  What if he had a pet
>for company?
>
>An American friend of mine hoping to get a job in Japan as 
>an English teacher has cats with him.  They are just like his
>own kids (so he says).  
>
>Do any of you have information regarding what kind of torture
>awaits his kids (actually kittens, to be precise)?

If the cats are healthy, there is no wait. It is best to get the cats checked
by a vet before you go, then ask the vet for a certificate of health for 
each animal. Be certain that you specify a pressurized compartment for the
critters (although Northwestern let us carry our cat onboard).

For dogs, there is a 2 week quarantine period.`

Mike
-- 
Disclaimer - I'm only doing what the little voices tell me to do.
From: ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu (Rikiya Asano)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Does America Say Yes To Japan? (part 1/2)
Date: 23 Nov 92 04:06:57 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.Uf4CK1_00iUyQ1XWA7
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

>     It seems that Japan is in some kind of economic war against us. Their
>objective is for them to win and for us to lose. Through the use of
>cartels, price fixing, government-corporate 'anti-foreigner' tactics as
>well as adversarial trade and predation strategies, Japan is destroying
>much of America's strategic industries, standard of living and military
>strength. These actions are also destroying the jobs of ordinary American
>people. 
 
Wrong! Nippon is not at an economic war with you! This is sorta on
racism but you all are excepting this. No let me take that back. This is
silly! America when industry when down because of greed, inefficiency,
discrimmination and crime among other things I'm sure.

>     Although the Japanese are individually are very polite people, Japan
>is a very racist country, maybe even more so than we are. The common name
>for foreigners is 'gaijin' in Japan. This is a racial slur somewhat in the
>way 'nigger' refers to a black person in America. There is however a
>polite form of this word, 'gaikokujin', which means literally 'outsider
>person'. 

        Wrong again! The Japanese word for forienger has nothing to do
the your culture word for a Black American. This is really silly. The
"N" word represents
in your culture the degredation of a people. Your culture has and does
continue 
to degrade the Blackman/women and child simply because of their color.
Stop comparing Nippon to your cultures silly ways.

Obviously, I am wasting my time.