HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: blamb@hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: INS update
Date: 17 Dec 92 17:32:46 GMT
Organization: Horizon Research, Inc.


A while ago I mentioned that my wife and I were going
through the process of applying for removal of
her conditional status of Permanent Residence.
Some people asked that I keep them up to date on
that procedure, and how it works.

A few weeks ago we gathered all the information 
requested by the INS (actually... specific info
is not required, but is suggested). We included
the following:

	- Proof of Joint ownership of property
	(home).

	- Proof of financial joint responsibility
	(credit cards, tax returns, bank statements).

	- Proof of offspring (Birth Certificate).

	- Insurance policies listing each other as
	beneficiaries.

	- 2 notarized affidavits from people who know
	us well testifying that we are living as man
	and wife, and would be willing to testify
	under oath to that fact (this I believe is
	a strict INS requirement for this procedure).

	- A photo of us and the kid. I threw this in
	as a human touch, and as my wife is Japanese
	we had 2000 spare photos :-)

All this stuff - attached to form I-751 - and a check for
$75 was sent to the INS in mid-november by certified
mail. About 10 days later we received notice that our
application was undergoing processing, and that an
automatic 6-month extension of conditional status was
in effect. It also noted that if we didn't hear from them
within 2 months to please call the INS office (?).

About a week later, we received notice that our
application had been approved, and that we were to
go to our friendly local INS office with two more
photos where they would begin making a new PR ID
card with removal of the conditional status. It was
noted that my wife could not travel abroad until
she got a new card (about 2 months) unless they put 
the proper approval in her passport.

That's what happened. I suppose there may one final
installment of this when we go there to get the
new card.

Please email any questions.

- Bill Lambert
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: jmfuchs@unix.amherst.edu (JESSE MICHAEL FUCHS)
Subject: Re: Misguided racial pride (was Re: Yoshi Hattori)
Organization: Amherst College
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL7]
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 20:11:53 GMT

Bill Lambert (blamb@hri.com) wrote:
> In article <1992Dec9.204841.3431@island.COM>, fester@island.COM 
> (Mike Fester) writes:
> 
> => Anyway, I doubt trying to reason with mr Asano will do any good. Sometimes, 
> => though, you gotta respond to his nonsense, just so he knows he's not
> => being ignored.
> 
> Au contraire! To be ignored is just what the doctor ordered for Mr. A.
> That he has consumed your time responding to disconnected drivel is a
> prime example why the ignorant should surely be ignored. Don't you
> think your time is better spent on something more useful and usual
> for you, Mike?
> 
> How do we usually handle spoiled children throwing tantrums in order
> to get attention?

	Exactly. In Japan, if one doesn't like something, one ignores it. 
That's why you don't see many harsh book reviews in Japan - they don't bother
to trash something they hate. I suggest we follow their lead
From: ajeans@hplred.HPL.HP.COM (Albert Jeans)
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 16:05:48 GMT
Subject: Re: Naruhodo the World: What is it?
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto, CA
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan

Naruhodo the World is a game show where celebrities are shown film clips of 
strange things going on around the world and try to answer a question like,
"What is this man doing, or what is this used for?" I found it quite 
interesting while is was being shown in the Bay Area (it's not anymore).
From: robohen@ocf.berkeley.edu (Henry Robertson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Texas Southern University marching band in To^kyo^
Date: 16 Dec 1992 00:53:37 GMT
Organization: U. C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: headcrash.berkeley.edu

In article <BzBorr.68C@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> dwwillia@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (David Williams) writes:
>I am flabbergasted!  The TSU marching band must be composed of the stupidest
>people on earth.  I can't believe that they would act that way in America,
>not as a group anyway.  So what rationale motivates 120 people to get
>off a bus in a foreign land and start stealing electronics?  They must
>have been too attracted to the shiny things.  Apes!
>
>And look at how the police reacted.  They avoided a scene and tried to
>talk the students out of their pilfered items.  What would have happened in
>America if a 120 foreigners went on a mass stealing spree?  There would
>have been gunplay, count on it.
>
>I wish that every last one of them would have been thrown in jail.  That would
>have been their just fate in any other country that I can think of.
>

The group would have met just such a fate, had they been Filipinos or
Blacks.  But, since Japan dumps chips on US, we have a right to dump our
frolickers there.  I think inner-city kids from the US should be sent 
abroad on such exchanges more often.  Perhaps they will learn to behave
themselves, while also forcing other countries to invest huge sums of
money in security systems, something we are good at making.  Also, we
need to figure out what exactly the Japanners are upset about.  Are they
upset over the losses?  Is their wealth not infinite as is a common percpetion?
Or are they upset because the band people didn't behave like some
idealized Coca-Cola advertisement fantasy.  Or is the decreased expectations
of moral aptitude for the white race sending panic waves, for suburbanite
parents whose daughters take English lessons from whitie college students.
Will the whities loot their daughter.  What about their abroad-homestay
daughters.  Are they tied up in some basement on a diet of bread and water,
forced to write I'm-OK letters.









Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: jcliu@euler.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Liu - Nucl. Engin. UC Berkeley)
Subject: Re: Not a Myth at All
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 22:26:43 GMT

In article <1992Dec17.195251.7178@island.COM> fester@island.COM 
(Mike Fester) writes:

>Pity. I don't normally see any point in ripping any foreigner for non-mastery 
>of any language.

What I mean by "rip" is that I simply correct their English.  I kindly 
inform them what they should have spoken.  They appreciate it usually and
I do notice improvement.  Unless you correct a non-native's speech, he/she
will be slow to improve.

>By "indistinguishable", I mean that there is nothing to distinguish them from 
>those born and raised in China. Most likely, that would mean a Beijing accent,
>as that is what most US universities teach.

I have NEVER heard any non-native speak Chinese Mandarin or Cantonese
speak without an accent, with exception of an Italian Catholic Missionary
who had been in China for 26 years and Honk Kong for close to 40. He was
in his 80's.  I have yet to meet a gaijin who speeks Nihongo with an
indistiguishable accent.

Jaa, James
=======================================================================
James C. Liu |    KARAOKE Addict!     Karaoke: You're the STAR!!!!    |
             |    Wanna go? Need someone who sings worse than you do? |
             |    Know about a cool karaoke bar? send e-mail          |
=======================================================================
From: jcliu@four-lab4.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Liu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
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 ?
Date: 12 Dec 92 02:26:12 GMT
Organization: UC Berkeley Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
NNTP-Posting-Host: four-lab4.berkeley.edu

In article <2L0mVB4w165w@student.business.uwo.ca> k3amichi@student.business.
uwo.ca (Kentaro Nakamichi) writes:

  >Actually, I rather like the American kids a lot better.  The Japanese 
  >kids today seem so dull and uninteresting from all the juku stuff.  (My 
  >days were the golden ages: zarigani in the tanbo, tombo in the hatake, 
  >kuwagata and kabutos in the summer :-))

The grass is always greener on the otherside dude.  I think Canadian
kids are really great...and no dandruff!  And Japanese kids are so 
much less likely to car-jack my new pickup while I'm parked at a red
light.8-)

  >Russians always pamper their kids and are impressed and surprised that 
  >Americans send their kids off to fend for themselves early on in life 
  >(this is from a Russian lady).

Yeah, but Russian kids tend to know how long it takes for the earth to
go around the sun, why we have seasons, and why things drop toward the
earth.  Last year, I saw a factoid on CNN-Headline news that said a
survey of US high school grads showed that at least a 3rd didn't know even
one of the answers. 

  >The Americans may have a bad elementary school system, but come 
  >university, I don't think any other nation comes close (too bad it can't 
  >be exported in quantity).  I pull all-nighters left right and center at a 
  >Canadian university.  I couldn't imagine doing that at a Japanese 
  >university.

I gotta admit, I did see a lot of Tokyo U. crests on peoples' coats who
were shopping during midday in Shibuya.  But this was last March.  They
coulda been preparing a month in advance for golden week...8-)
Sheeeahhh...saru ga boku no shiri kara...

  >All kids somehow mature and make adjustments to live up to expectations 
  >in their society anyway.  I don't think it matters where you're educated.

Japanese society -> fair/moderate expectations
American society -> low expectations.

Perhaps we should export all our kids to Japan for pre-college
education, then bring everybody back to the US for a taste of cut-throat
college education.  Just think, the kids pull all-nighters during high
school, before entrance exams, after exams, during undergrad studies,
during graduate work, and finally during post-docs. :-)  The business
opportunities will be tremendous. Domino's will stay open 24 hours to 
cater to that market! :-)

Jaa, James
=======================================================================
James C. Liu |    Another Hanakin, another KARAOKE night!             |
=======================================================================
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: hiraga@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Yuzuru Hiraga)
Subject: Re: Super Power in new century and Yellow Peril
Organization: Stanford University CSLI
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 13:42:25 GMT

In article <1992Dec16.022112.1089@leland.Stanford.EDU> underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes:
> ...
>For this very reason, it is vital that Japan maintain a vigilant and
>militarily strong jietai.

Well, agree it or not (actually I don't), this is understandable.

>Further, Japan needs a directly elected
>prime minister like the President of the USA;

Huh? How come?

>that prime minister can
>serve as the commander-in-chief of Japanese self-defense forces.

But the prime minister IS currently the one-and-only commander-in-chief.
Surely you won't expect the Emperor to be so? :-)

>Only a strong Japan with a commander-in-chief whose role is well-defined
>in an amended Japanese Kempoo can protect Asia from Chinese hegemony.

I agree on the "well-defined role" part, I mean, the current status
of SDF (jieitai) is actually twisted in view of the constitution.
Either one may concede, but they can't co-exist (theoretically, that is :-)

-YH
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 00:07:16 -0500 
From: Rikiya Asano <ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: RIKIYA ASANO
	<RHB.92Dec12155135@world.std.com>

Bob Brueckner writes:



> 
>Which goes to show that it takes all kinds to make a world. I would
>have thought not one person out of six billion would listen to this
>little maggot Rikiya Asano (who, if he did graduate with honors
>certainly didn't earn any of them in English; and he no speaka da
>Japanese too good neither, apparently). But I was wrong. There *is* one.


This one is better than a billon of *you*.
From: dcroz@twics.co.jp
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Not a Myth at All
Date: 16 Dec 92 14:26:33 GMT
Organization: TWICS, Tokyo, Japan

 
 
Yoshia Shimizu writes:
 
=}I think its fact that Japaenes are more closed minded from european people,
=}However we know this and we are trying to change this.
 
     Maybe you do and are, but I see no evidence of that here in Tokyo.
 
     <conversation among four 20-something wage slaves overheard at lunch>
 
                                    <today>
     
      1st bigot:  Yeah, I did a homestay overseas.  Yappari, those g**j*n
      (male)      really *are* different from ware ware Nihonjin (the latter
                  term spoken with obvious reverence).
 
      2nd bigot:  Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?  I hate 'em.
      (female)
 
=}If Americans want less racism, remember: In Rome, act like Romans.
 
     So I should be careful to make racist remarks every time I see a Japanese,
eh?  And do it loudly enough for him to overhear, but I don't have to worry
because everybody knows Japanese can't speak English because they don't have
that special "Hakujin" brain structure?
 
=}Same with us, if  you act comfortable with japanese then once they have
=}become good friend, they will have stronger relationship then european
=}people.
 
     A stronger relationship than european people?
 
     I think I'll just rest my case right here.
 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: hiraga@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Yuzuru Hiraga)
Subject: Re: Texas Southern University marching band in To^kyo^
Organization: Stanford University CSLI
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 14:08:13 GMT

My reaction to this incident is ---
why all this overreaction? (on the US journalism, Japanese journalism,
and on the net...)

In article <BzCnu5.ECv@world.std.com> cmr@world.std.com (Charles M Richmond) writes:
>I am embarrassed for my fellow man and wish to convey to Japan and to the
>Japanese people the apology of at least one American resident. It is a sad
>comment on the quality of the education and the upbringing of these students,
>that they behaved the way that they did.

Admitting all sincerety in Mr. Richmond's remarks, I don't see why
he has to give any apologies.  I find this rather interesting because
it seems more to fit a Japanese kind of mentality (yes, I'm stereotyping).

And why this single incident lead to gross generalization and dispute,
I simply don't understand.

FYI:
Shoplifting in Japan, unfortunately, is not at all uncommon.
And mob psychology, just as in this case, commonly provokes such action as well.
As for arresting/prosecution, I don't think students in this case
received any special treatment, as it is usually the case that
if the criminal can be believed to be non-habitual, and shows deep repent,
is dismissed without formal charge (usually after a long scolding :-)
And this I believe, is not so particular to Japan.

# Suddenly I'm reminded of the shoplifting scene in "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

-YH
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,talk.politics.guns
From: cescript@mtu.edu (Charles Scripter)
Subject: Re: Yoshi Hattori
Organization: Michigan Technological University
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 16:34:27 GMT

In article <1992Dec15.065523.1018@bluemoon.use.com>, grant@bluemoon.use.com 
(Grant DeLorean) writes:

> cdt@sw.stratus.com (C. D. Tavares) writes:
> 
> >In article <Ef_fE1i00iV144SjxH@andrew.cmu.edu>, ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu
> (Rikiya Asano) writes:
> >> Don't fuck with me man!
> 
> >> But, let me say this, KEEP F**KIN' ME!
> 
> >And when you do, boys, remember:
> 
> >> Yes, I do ! I like the Greek Culture! Now, what's wrong with that?
> 
>  I guess Riki came here becuase he didn't like the way he was being
> reared, but he will go home after a while because he can't leave his
> brother's behind...

There you go again, making poor Riki the butt of the joke...

-- 
Charles Scripter   *   cescript@phy.mtu.edu
Dept of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931
-------------------------------------------------------------------
With your one remaining eye, please do NOT look back into the laser
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,talk.politics.guns
From: masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov (Michiaki Masuda)
Subject: Re: Yoshi Hattori
Organization: Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 20:35:27 GMT

In article <lairdb.724567514@crash.cts.com> lairdb@crash.cts.com (Laird P. Broadfield) writes:
>In <BzDo1L.2w7@ncifcrf.gov> masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov (Michiaki Masuda) writes:

>>[1] In Japan, stepping into someone else's private property without (or with)
>>    a criminal intention almost never ends up being aimed at by the owner with
>>    a real gun. (If you break into Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza boss's house,
>>    your milage might vary...) 

>Focusing on this point for a moment, is there some cultural, societal, or
>physical situation in Japan thast makes it "more right", or more appropriate,
>or even commonplace for a person to enter another's private property?
>This is another place that there might be a critical cultural difference.

   Based on my experience, stepping into someone else's property itself could
happen as frequently in some areas in the US as in Japan. At least, I've
done that twice in the US: when the party host's bad handwriting led me to
his neighbor's house and when I lost my way in the rural area and decided to
ask a local resident for a help. The house owners' attitude towards me was
not so different from what I would have experienced in Japan.

   It's my impression that the situation is not so different in most areas
in Japan and some (or many?) areas in the US. A stranger is just a stranger
and not more than that. Neither a friend nor an enemy. However, wouldn't it
be possible that some people in some areas in the US regard a stranger as 
an enemy who deserves an unconditional expulsion from their property? What
some newscasts reported seemed to me to suggest that it was the case for 
Mrs. Peairs who encountered unexpected young visitors and who told her husband
to be prepared with a gun. Probably, a high crime rate in that area is
one reason for her reaction, but I wonder if there are any other cultural
backgrounds for this.

   There are, of course, some Japanese who regard a stranger as an enemy,
but they would not be prepared with a firearm. Therefore, even in the
worst case scenario, stepping into another's property should not be fatal.
It might be true that this fact makes Japanese take it easier to enter
someone's property uninvitedly or by mistake.

--Michiaki 
Xref: sparky soc.culture.japan:12253 alt.sex:39453 soc.culture.usa:9159 soc.culture.african.american:12829 sci.electronics:20604 misc.consumers:20555 misc.education:5197 misc.entrepreneurs:3589
From: jcliu@euler.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Liu - Nucl. Engin. UC Berkeley)
Subject: Re: Wayne Lo
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 02:41:41 GMT

In article <Yf=uc0W00Vp_MQNUlc@andrew.cmu.edu> Rikiya Asano 
<ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:

[stuff deleted about Wayne Lo and Lu Gang killing people]

  >           . I stand convinced that these outbreaks are the results of
  >isolation and rejection based on ethnicity. Mr. Lo is like most American

Sorry to burst your bubble Asano-san, but we beautiful, smart, kind
and caring Chinese are very similar to other peoples.  We have our
own axe murders.

  >information from a Chinese friend that said he knew him) tried very hard
  >to and "went through every kiss ass means" to make white friends" and as
  >it went he hook up with the skinheads! I ask you is that despert or not!

Sounds really BONEhead to associate with SKINheads.  Must have been one
of those 3-sigma gaussian/log normal distribution Chinese and not the
average, huh.  He must not have been if it's only happening once a year.

  >                         I will kill myself the day that a Japanese
  >Jeffrey Dahmer arrives(well, maybe not kill). Mr. Lo you were very

Naahhh.  The day will never come.  Jeffrey Dalhmer is an American
original.  A Japanese homosexual-mass-murderer wouldn't preserve his 
victims in formaldehyde.  He'd prepare his victims fresh and serve
with mirin and bulldog sauce. :-0 

  >Stooooooooooopid American-Chinese!

Stupid. Period.  We don't need the "American-Chinese" bit.

Jaa, James
=======================================================================
James C. Liu |    KARAOKE Addict!     Karaoke: You're the STAR!!!!    |
             |    Wanna go? Need someone who sings worse than you do? |
             |    Know about a cool karaoke bar? send e-mail          |
=======================================================================
From: yoichi@carson.u.washington.edu (Yoichi Ii)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Baruku!
Date: 12 Dec 92 08:29:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec12.082930.23339
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu (Rikiya Asano) writes:
>... progressive institution of the Baruku "neighborhoods" in Nippon. ...
>... As long as there is a Baruku, we will never be a paradise! ...
>... the Baruku and by the Baruku. We should wake up. ...
>... our attitudes and our thinking about the Baruku. ...

Who are these mysterious "baruku" people?  A group of persons afflicted
with a terrible skin ailment resembling tree surface? :-)
Xref: sparky soc.culture.japan:12447 rec.music.misc:29404
From: 6o25@sdf.lonestar.org (Stephen M. Jones)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,rec.music.misc
Subject: Mari Iijima suggestions??
Date: 15 Dec 92 03:56:38 GMT
Article-I.D.: sdf.BzA8AF.FB4
Organization: Super Dimension Fortress - Public Access Unix - Dallas, Tx..

hello...

I am wondering if anyone knows where her recordings are available?

thank you

-- 
Stephen M. Jones (214)436-4622 
>-<Cs&E>-<
SysAdmin <-> Super Dimension Fortress PAU 
6o25@sdf.lonestar.org - "Put in a quarter and play road rally." - Descendents 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: hit@sol.acs.unt.edu (Hisaharu Tanabe)
Subject: Re: Texas Southern University marching band in To^kyo^
Organization: University of North Texas
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 00:40:39 GMT

dwwillia@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (David Williams) writes:

>I am flabbergasted!  The TSU marching band must be composed of the stupidest
>people on earth.  I can't believe that they would act that way in America,
>not as a group anyway.  So what rationale motivates 120 people to get
>off a bus in a foreign land and start stealing electronics?  They must
>have been too attracted to the shiny things.  Apes!

Remember, that was December 7th.  Probably they all thoght they could
do anything to Japs on that day.

>And look at how the police reacted.  They avoided a scene and tried to
>talk the students out of their pilfered items.  What would have happened in
>America if a 120 foreigners went on a mass stealing spree?  There would
>have been gunplay, count on it.

What would you expect the Jap-cops would do against 120 of GAIJINs? 
If those cops aren't used to deal with the foreigners and the most of
them are blacks(most of TSU students are blacks), I'm sure they'd get scared.

In case some people misunderstand my words, let me explain. As more
blacks get arrested than whites unfairly in the US, and many news come to
Japan through the media, many people in Japan have a (wrong) idea that the
most of criminals are blacks.

>I wish that every last one of them would have been thrown in jail.  That would
>have been their just fate in any other country that I can think of.

Nah, all they sould do is just coming back to Tex.  This is where all those
idiots belong.

.....and that's where even a silly kid like I could survive.  I hope you took
this post only as a bad joke.


-- 
Hisaharu Tanabe                 E-Mail : hit@sol.acs.unt.edu
University of North Texas                htanabe@world.std.com (if in Japanese)
Denton,Texas
$@EDJU>08<!wKL%F%-%5%9=#N)Bg(J
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA