HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: kanekawa@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Nobuyasu Kanekawa)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Mythology Gods
Date: 10 Sep 92 14:58:45 GMT
Organization: UCLA, Computer Science Department

rehir@gauss.med.harvard.edu (Hirokatsu Watanabe 432-2275) writes:
:       "Ookuninushi no mikoto"
:               Susanou no mikoto's son-in-law. He was treated as
:            a slave by his elder brothers. He overcame many troubles
:            and got big power by marrying Susanou no mikoto's daughter.
:            He revenged himself on his elder brothers. I guess he is
:            a sort of Japanese Cinderella boy or Monte-Cristo.

But he had to give up the contry to "Amaterasu oomikami" finally
because of Very strong order.
He is well-known as a god of match making in Izumo shrine.

His sons are;
"Kotoshironushi no mikoto" and
"Takeminakata no mikoto."

In addition, "Kounosuke Matsushita" founder of Matsushita Electric
Co. (Panasonic) is very famouse as a god of business in modern age. :-)

Hope it helps you.

Nobuyasu KANEKAWA
From: robohen@ocf.berkeley.edu (Henry Robertson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: US Open (was Re: US Open-door policy (was: An open letter to ...) )
Date: 10 Sep 1992 00:00:27 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandstorm.berkeley.edu

Then again, the two Asian tennis stars were Asian American.  Could this have
to do with Japanese tennis facilities being chronically overcrowded, limiting
superstar growth (1 player hogging up the court 8 hours a day impossible)?

Of course, now that we have a generation of rich Japanese who live in
suburbs, and the author Murakami Ryu epitomizes the tennis-crazed yuppie
(see his new book Tennis Boy), there will likely be more stars in the future.
The same reason why China does so damn well at ping-pong; there are only
1 billion players.
From: mauritz_c@spcvxb.spc.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: How Japan is contributing to the 3rd World countries.
Date: 15 Sep 92 12:04:22 GMT
Organization: SPC Community Access System

In article <1992Sep15.030153.13430@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>, nishiyam@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (NISHIYAMA  KOHTARO) writes:
> 
> 
> Hello.  My name is Kohtaro Nishiyama.
> 
> I would like to learn how Japan is contributing to the third world countries.
> For example, how much money Japan is spending annually as ODA (Official
> Developmental Aid, I suppose), or how Japan is dealing with environmental 
> hazzard caused by Japanese firms operating in developing countries.
> I would also like to learn the same things for the United States.
> 
> If you are familiar with this issue, please write me back.  I will greatly 
> appreciate it.
> 
> Last year, I established with several American friends a group called 
> Japan-U.S. Association at the University of Colorado, Boulder Campus.
> We are studying Japan-U.S. relaitons, and trying to promote better
> understanding of current political, economic, and social issues between 
> the United States and Japan.  I might post questions here from time to time
> from now on.  

Hello!  I am not so familiar with "official" types of aid, but as far
as Japanese business operating in the third world I have some experience.

I work as a loan officer and financial analyst for one of the largest
Japanese commercial banks.  My responsibility is all of Central and
South America.  I've been doing this for about 3 years now and I have
yet to see any "aid" come from Japanese private sector.  I have seen
aid come from a few American and European banks in the form of swapping
debt for nature or to lend money at no profit for projects such as
schools, but the Japanese financial community doesn't seem to be
interested in participating in that sort of thing.

For the most part, Japanese companies (like most of their counterparts
in other countries) only invest in developing countries to take 
advantage of very poorly enforced pollution controls and very
cheap labor.

I would be happy to discuss this more by email, but I'm reluctant
to go into a lot of specifics in a public forum (my boss was fired
2 years ago for talking about the above subject to a representative
of the IMF and World Bank).

Cheers,

Chris
From: keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Japanese immigration
Date: 9 Sep 1992 18:54:11 GMT
Organization: The University of Westrn Australia
NNTP-Posting-Host: wapsy.psy.uwa.oz.au

Yes, any foreign nationals with Japanese alien registration cards
can line up for "Japanese" sign. I confess that I made a fairly
embarrassing mistake of reminding a caucasian woman standing right
in front that a sign appeared to say "Japanese." A big mistake.
She explained to me that anyone who has an alien registration card
can use the line. I profusely apologized her for not knowing the
current situation in Japan and told her that I came back after living
a decade in the USA. We actually had a nice small talk as we wait
our turns. She warned me that I shouldn't be shocked to hear when
some of my friends use an expression such as "You're no longer
Japanese" meaning that I am too Americanized/Westernized or whatever.
Or was that I was away too long from Japan.
I learned about banking hours especially the fact that they turn off
ATM machines after 6pm from her. She was anxious to get through the
immigration line so that she could get money from an ATM and send
her baggage through ABC (airport to home/hotel courier
service, highly recommended, beats schleping damn baggage yourself.)
I didn't ask where she is from, etc. because people don't talk about
personal details when engaging in a small talk but I was very much
impressed the depth of this person's knowledge. Indeed, her warnings
occasionally saved me from unnecessary frustrations.
Yup, locals know best. When you have questions about all things 
Japanese, don't hesitate to ask experts' opinions including
foreign residents in Japan.
From: davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Followup: Chinese communists & Japanese Imperial Army
Date: 6 Sep 92 01:15:46 GMT
Organization: Aegis Society, Kyoto Japan

yunson@lpf.umd.edu (Yunson Du) writes:

>Dave McLane writes:

>>>Again, this is a version of Japanese. As I remember, this 
>>>incident was prepared by the Japanese secret agent to find
>>>an excuse to invade the rest of China. There are enormous
>>>history books to support this. Actually, that is long-practised
>>>way to justify the invasion. If that version was carried in
>>>the Japanese history books, then this is another 
>>>seriously-distorted piece of history of WW2.

[* rest of follow-up omitted to get to the point *]

>I need to say more? Look at any history book covering that
>matter other than the books published by Japan (and China
>also, to be fair). Read for yourself. 

What evidence can you present that any history book other than those
published by Japan and China are true and the rest are not? 

>There are millions of reasons that that version is untrue.

That's an interesting opinion. Any truth to it? 

>You are on vacation, I am not. Sorry! I really cannot say more.

How do you know if I'm on vacation or not?  Sorry, I really can't
help wondering how you know all these things....

Dave

--
Dave McLane 
JUNET: davidg@aegis.or.jp (ONLY within Japan: post otherwise)
Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087
From: robohen@ocf.berkeley.edu (Henry Robertson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: interracial films
Date: 15 Sep 92 03:42:10 GMT
Organization: U. C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: headcrash.berkeley.edu

What about Mississippi Masala, you ask?  The point is that most i.l. films
exploit the sensationalism running in public sentiments.  If there were
truly progress, the characters would be portrayed in more mundane detail,
not on some undercurrent of Nietszchean man & exotic superman.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu ()
Subject: Re: Attractive, Wealthy Japanese Woman Sought
Organization: clearer than blir
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 10:25:20 GMT

In article <1992Sep11.072158.8307@cs.ucla.edu> kanekawa@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Nobuyasu Kanekawa) writes:
>pssres12@ucs.usl.edu (Vignes Gerard M) writes:
>:           Because they are exquisite creatures,
>:            with deep, beautiful, almond eyes
>:             and soft shiny, silky hair
>:              and slender bodies.
>:                                    And yet,
>:                        they seem not ashamed
>:                 of their natural intelligence
>:         unlike many American women I have known.
>
>I have never seen such kind of wonderful creatures in Japan.  
>Where did you see ?
>
>I think they must be endangered species and need your protection.

The more you think in this fashion, the more Japanese women will flock
to marry non-Japanese men like Mr. Vignes. Please keep up the good
work :-)

-- Tad Perry   Internet:    tvp@gibdo.engr.washington.edu
               CompuServe:  70402,3020
               NIFTY-Serve: GBG01266
From: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: $10,000 REWARD!!!
Date: 11 Sep 92 21:10:36 GMT
Reply-To: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Organization: Horizon Research


=> In article <1992Sep10.041837.9779@usl.edu> pssres12@ucs.usl.edu
=> (Vignes Gerard M) writes:
=> 
=> +>		RADIO FREE LAFAYETTE IS PREPARED TO OFFER
=> +>		A  REWARD  OF  $10,000   FOR  INFORMATION
=> +>		LEADING  TO  THE  ARREST  AND  CONVICTION
=> +>		OF  THE  PERSON OR PERSONS  POSTING  UGLY
=> +>		RACIALLY OFFENSIVE MESSAGES FROM PILFERED
=> +>		COMPUTER ACCOUNTS.    PLEASE PROVIDE  ANY
=> +>		INFORMATION   YOU THINK  MAY BE  OF HELP.
=> +>		YOUR IDENTITY  WILL BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL.

In article <3887@fcs280s.ncifcrf.gov>, masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov
(Michiaki Masuda) writes:
=>    Which message and which account are they talking about? And when did it
=> happen? Without knowing that, how can we be helpful?

Masuda-San.... seems like someone using the name Gerard Vignes, or
that account, has decided to use s.c.j as his own private little
playground. Sorry to disappoint you, but probably you won't be
able to post a racially offensive article and then turn yourself
in for the reward..... this time.

- Bill
From: letom@tostada.engr.ucdavis.edu (Tom)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Foreigner in Japan.
Date: 8 Sep 92 09:28:56 GMT
Distribution: soc.culture.japan
Organization: College of Engineering - University of California - Davis

In article <WEIGERT.92Sep8170739@etlhit.etl.go.jp> weigert@mcs.anl.gov writes:
>PG> Nntp-Posting-Host: ap22
>
>
>PG> 	Do the Japanese talk to me in English because they don't like that
>PG> foreigners speak their sacred language, or do they think that in any case,
>PG> their English is better than the Japanese of a yankee-like foreigner ?
>
>The following is my own biased opinion: They answer in English because they
>cannot possibly conceive that somebody non-Japanese is speaking Japanese

I'm glad to see you put that "my own biased opinion" because in my own
biased opinion, I don't think anything like what you mentioned.  Incidentally,
I am one of those people who do switch to English on occasion, even when
spoken to in Japanese (if I know the person speaks English.)

I only switch to English if, in my opinion, the person's Japanese is "bad"
(either in vocabulary, or pronounciation) for the topic at hand.  I do this
mainly because I am confident enough of both my English and Japanese to
personally (to myself only, of course) "rate" the other person's Japanese
and decide whether their "level" of Japanese is sufficient for the topic
at hand.  The reason for my switching is two-fold...one is simply that I'm
trying to be kind and use the language which I believe is easier for the
other person.  Second and much more selfish, but nonetheless a reason I should
mention, is when the person's Japanese is really bad, and I don't want to 
try and decipher what the person is saying (whether through context, or just
blatantly asking "What did you say?")

Is this presumptious of me?  Yes, it most likely is, and I have even been
asked by some non-Japanese people to please continue to speak Japanes as
they would like to learn Japanese.  In such a case, an apology is certainly
due, and freely given, and I switch back to Japanese, plus "teaching mode"
if appropriate (somtimes correcting the person immediately is not the
best idea.)

I recall when travelling through Germany, I tried out my German (which is
admittedly quite bad) only to have nearly all the shopkeepers switch to
English on me.  Personally, I never found that to be rude or inappropriate,
but rather thought it was kind of them to give a stranger a hand.  Sure,
I occasionally tried to carry the conversation on in German, if learning
German was the point of the conversation; but at a store, when I'm just
trying to buy item-x, and find out how much it costs, etc etc - I'd just
as soon as use English.  I'm glad that they know English, and took the time
to learn it, and use it.  Personally, nothing frustruates me more than trying
to communicate a certain idea and not knowing if the person understood it
(or even if I said it correctly to begin with!)

Paul
From: keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Japanese immigration
Date: 10 Sep 1992 11:30:03 GMT
Organization: The University of Westrn Australia
NNTP-Posting-Host: wapsy.psy.uwa.oz.au

jfriedl@othello.Berkeley.EDU (Jeffrey Friedl) writes:

>keis@psy.uwa.oz.au (Keis Ohtsuka) writes:
>|> Yes, any foreign nationals with Japanese alien registration cards
>|> can line up for "Japanese" sign. I confess that I made a fairly
>|> embarrassing mistake of reminding a caucasian woman standing right
>   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>|> in front that a sign appeared to say "Japanese." A big mistake.

>When standing in the "Japanese Passports Only" line holding my American
>passport and someone kindly points out the sign, I take it as an act
>if kindness (trying to save me from wasting my time in the wrong line).
>If one would start using "ketou" or other such words, that's different...

It's not the way you say it that matters but the content of a message.
I assumed that a person was lining up at a wrong line because she looks
non-Japanese. What in the name why did I assume that she does not know
about what she was doing?  I am guilty of casting a judgment before
learning truth - a prejudice. By the way, I didn't mention about it but
another person standing by her indeed moved to a cue for "Foreigners."
I guess he was lining up because he saw a person look like non-Japanese.
I dunno. He probably just wanted to have a chat with her.

>However, after reading your (Keis') previous reply on the subject,
>I can imagine you're not being so kindly (after all, you're stuffed to
>the gills with airline food and all -- apparently that makes it OK to
>be a jerk, so went your previous reply). Sorry for such sarcasim, but
>the ideas expressed in your previous reply were really poor. You sounded
>like you've spent too much time in New York.

Wow, where did this come from? Yo! you're lucky I'm not a New Yorker. ;<
If I were rude, the person did not have have to talk to me at all
let alone sharing an interesting observation of hers about Japanese.

You didn't like what I said in the previous note and couldn't
get over it, eh. Aren't you generalizing a bit too much?

Keis Ohtsuka
From: ay@cs.duke.edu (Akitoshi Yoshida)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: travelling
Date: 9 Sep 92 20:33:31 GMT
Organization: Duke University CS Dept., Durham, NC
In-reply-to: kumamoto@sj.ate.slb.com's message of 9 Sep 92 08:56:59 GMT


Here is my advice on people thinking about buying a JR pass.

I used a 3-week JR pass to travel from Hokkaido to Kyushu. It must
have paid at least a few times more than the price of the ticket.
It is a very economical way to travel in Japan, especially if you take
Shinkansen and limited express.

The pass definitely pays for travelling between big cities, since
there are likely shinkansen or JR limited express lines. There is no seat
reservation charge, so it's really convenient to travel with a JR
Pass. 

Unfortunately, in some areas, there are no JR lines, and the pass
becomes useless. 
In Hokkaido, you have to take local busses to get to most National parks.
Those busses are very expensive. So, if you want to travel extensively
in Hokkaido, the JR pass doesn't give a good deal. In Nikko, if you
want to go to Chuzenji lake, you have to take a local bus, and it
costs Y1000 (I guess) for oneway. Japan Alps is another place where
the JR pass is not popular at all. It costs about Y1800 to go to
Kamikouchi from Matsumoto JR station. The list of nice places where you
can't get by JR goes on.

So, before buying a JR pass, you should check your travel plan
and see how much extra money you have to bring.


--
---
Akitoshi Yoshida			$B5HED L@=S(B
Department of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706
INTERNET:	ay@cs.duke.edu		TEL	:	(919)-660-6561
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: cecouch@athena.mit.edu (Christopher E Couch)
Subject: Re: Internet access in Japan
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 16:02:57 GMT

lucien writes:

>I have a friend in Japan with a Mac and a modem.  How can he get
>access to internet email cheaply?  I will be deeply grateful if
>you can help me.

try emailing the following guys:

	tpowell@cerf.net

		OR

	feeney@nisc.jvnc.net

I am ABOUT to be in Japan with a Mac and a modem, and I asked the same 
qestion on alt.internet.access.wanted.  The above two guys responded and
gave good advice.

Good luck!

PS- if anyone has any other ideas, I'd like to know, too!

Christopher (cecouch@athena.mit.edu)
From: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Toto Washolet
Date: 8 Sep 92 16:24:57 GMT
Reply-To: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Organization: Horizon Research


=> In article <7171@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com> blamb@rodan.hri.com 
(Bill Lambert - that's me) writes:
=> 
=>  =} [toilet seat description deleted]
=>  =}
=>  =}I been thinking of getting one, just to get my wife with the remote....
=>  =}just once!

In article <HARKCOM.92Sep7081742@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp>,
harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom) writes:
=>    Hope you can afford it :)  This thread caught my interest so I went
=> to a toilet seat store.  They had a few models of these electric wonders.
=> They were all roughly over 120,000 yen (1000 US dollars)  :(  I acted
=> like I wanted to buy one and was able to talk the salesperson down to
=> 100,000 for the simplest one so I figure the discount shops might have
=> them quite a bit cheaper...
=> 
=>    The price of a comfortable... uhhh... seat?

Al.... you gotta get one. You'll feel really decadent as you play with
the temperature of the bum washer with the remote control.

Actually, we needed a new toilet seat. As there was no electricity
available in the vacinity of said appliance, I gave up the WASHOLET
idea and I went to the local hardware discount store, and bought
one for $7.66. It works too! All three options: lid and seat up;
lid up and seat down, both seat and lid down! Incredible.

- Bill Lambert
From: yunson@lpf.umd.edu (Yunson Du)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Followup: Chinese communists & Japanese Imperial Army
Date: 6 Sep 92 13:58:01 GMT
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park

Gimme a break! I posted my first one with some sentences like: 
"Dave MaLane posted numerous postings". You said you were 
on vacation and so easily did numerous posting. Any help?
Seems like you are not on vacation. What a lie!

Not emotionally? Check your numerous postings. Also, if you 
really want the fact of WW2. Don't just lazily sit there, or
just talked with several people who can only represent 
one-side story. Read some books, or go travelling in East
Asia and talk with some other people (provided that you
are rich enough to afford you this hobby). 

Once again. Missing of soldiers (or civilians) is just s
pretext of invasion. There were many wars like that: purpose
--->buildup---->Missing---->Invasion. (like 1931 japan's invasion of
Manchuria, China). Also if really CCP shot JIA, then Japanese
government, which so eagerly want their people believe that
the war is not wrong, would siad so publicly (the so-called
secret document should be in Japanese government's hand).
When did that version come up? I bet it is after 1949, when 
Chinese Commie defeated Chinese Nationalists. That is reason
for that version (my guess, though). Blah blah. 

Kind of strange that you didn't ask them rasons when they told
you CCP invited JIA into China. You look like not that kind of
person. The irrelevant vacation stuff even made you to do such
a long seach. (I hope you have remembered when you said that
and no further argument; I am a little tired with all this stuff).

Yunson Du
University of Marland
College Park, MD
 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: pssres12@ucs.usl.edu (Vignes Gerard M)
Subject: Re: Women's Movement in Japan
Organization: Univ. of Southwestern La., Lafayette
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 22:12:53 GMT

	Women in Japan today
	are being asked to share
	a much greater portion of the burden
	of running a household:
				caring for children,
		cooking and cleaning and shopping,
			caring for elderly parents
			AND working outside the home
		to earn a second salary for their family.

	The decrease in marriages is not coincidental.

		It may take a few generations
	but a sufficient percentage of Japanese women
	will come to resent having to shoulder this burden
	without a greatly increased voice in matters
		which directly affect their lives.

		       This is the essence of politics.

	Japanese women are learning
	that an equitable society
	demands their participation
	in economic and political decision making.
	
					   Gerard Vignes

-- 

pssres12@ucs.usl.edu	Gerard Vignes, USL PO Box 42709, Lafayette LA 70504 USA
From: robohen@ocf.berkeley.edu (Henry Robertson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Women's Movement in Japan
Date: 13 Sep 1992 22:44:07 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: tempest.berkeley.edu

Yeah, but what's all this panic about women not marrying/having kids in Japan?
Isn't Japan too crowded to begin with?  The Japanese government should 
encourage smoking among older people to kill off the aging problem.