HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: robohen@ocf.berkeley.edu (Henry Robertson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Japan Scaling Down Holidays This Year
Date: 25 Dec 1992 09:10:34 GMT
Organization: U. C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: headcrash.berkeley.edu

Baltimore Sun, 12.23

Tokyo--For Christmas Eve with a date in 1992, parties at $32-an-hour sing-along
rooms are in, and glitzy nights in $800 hotel rooms are out.  

For New Year's Eve with friends, beef-intestine-and-vegetable stews are in,
and dinner theaters with top entertainers out.

For traditional take-home meals to give moms a rest on New Year's Day, carry-
out packs from 7-Eleven are in, and exotic food assortments delivered from
pricey department stores are out.

Two years into Japan's worst economic slowdown and only its second recession
since World War II, millions of Japanese are cutting back on the 
extravagances of the late-1980s "bubble economy."

Dozens of the discos that were jammed with partygoers at this time a year
or two ago folded before this year's holiday season.

Many are vacant, dirt building up on their windows and taped electrical
wire protruding from their walls.  Others have been replaced by less costly forms
of entertainment.  Japan's electronic game centers are soaring.  Their total
take is expected to leap to $4 billion this year, from $3.4 billion last year.

But for the first time in more than a decade, most of this city's top hotels
still have plenty of rooms for Christmas Eve.  Two years ago, the last
reservations were gone by early June.

Christians account for less than 1 percent of Japan's population, which is
overwhelmingly Buddhist and Shintoist, but merchants and entertainment
places used the foreign holiday in the late 1980s to maximize the Japanese
tradition of year-end gift-giving.

Playing on the problems young men are having finding women to marry, merchants
and hoteliers promoted Christmas Eve as the most romantic night of the year,
creating a courtship extravaganza known nowhere else.

Tens of thousands of young men lined up at hotels every January and February
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
to hand over anywhere from $700 to $1,100 for "Christmas Eve Packages,"
betting big chunks of their savings on their ability to get dates 10 or 11
months later.

Each package combined a fancy dinner and entertainment by top singers with
a night in a guest room on a day hotels had never been able to fill.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
C'mon guys, is attracting women by virtue of romance out of the question??

take is expected to leap to 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: cshi@cs.ulowell.edu (Chunde Shi)
Subject: Re: Comfort girls?
Organization: University of Massachusetts at Lowell Computer Science
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 02:59:51 GMT

In article <RHB.93Jan1204609@world.std.com> rhb@world.std.com (Robert H Brueckner) writes:
>In article <C072K8.3p4@ulowell.ulowell.edu> cshi@cs.ulowell.edu (Chunde Shi) writes:
>
>
>   physically forced in former case, it was finacailly, or dietorily forced 
>   in the later case. By " finacailly, or dietorily", I mean, in the example of 
>   occupied germany, japan, and vietnam, local people were not supplied(generated)
>    enough food, or welth, while G.I. had plentity, local young femal had to do
>   it for servival.
>------------------
>
>It can be proven that the Japanese used sex as a weapon in this case.
>If you presume also to accuse the U.S. in this way, however, you are
>guilty of a material fallacy of logic known as "post hoc ergo propter
>hoc," i.e. "after this, therefore because of this." You are assuming
>that just because prostitution did exist in the occupied countries
>that it existed *by design of the victorious forces* (not all of which
>were U.S., incidentally), which contention was not proven, merely
>stated.  Until you can find a "smoking gun" that links prostitution in
Tow points:
  1. When authority did nothing or little to discourage the wrong doing like
   prostition, which  had degrading effect on local people, it becomes 
   encouraging practivally. 
  2. The prostitutions in those occupied nations were mainly one directional:
   G.I.s have sex with local young femal. It served the politcal purpose--to
   degrade the locals. It is not so relevent whether U.S. military had
  directive to encourage prostition. Ofcourse, if such directive is revealed
to the public it helps. Even there was one, it must be top classified.
From: UPS500@rhrz.uni-bonn.de
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Pilitical Science mailing-list, worldwide?
Date: 3 Jan 93 16:17:56 GMT
Organization: RHRZ Uni-Bonn


 
Hello everyone!
 
Being ralatively new to the Internet, I wonder whether a Mailing List
for students and teachers in Political Science exists, in fact, whether there
IS a certain number of fellow students in that disipline, having Internet-
access.
 
If there is,please contact me to tell me whether there are already Mailing-
Lists in which one can join to discuss politics amongst STUDENTS and TEACHERS
of that discipline and how to join.
 
If there isn't, I find it's high time such a list was created to be able
to exchange views on the ever accelerating "deroulement" of events in the
world today. From what I've seen so far, nothing like it exists up to this
point in time, yet the internationality and the mere speed with which
discussions could take place seem tempting.
 
If you are interested in newly creating such a list, please email me -
ups500@ibm.rhrz.uni-bonn.de - to tell me
 
-> what your preferences of content would be for such a group and
-> whether you'd be ready to help in maintaining such a list.
 
Best wishes for 1993, Markus Schlegel
at RFWU Bonn (Germany)
Seminar fuer Politische Wissenschaft
------------------------------------------------------------------
ups500@ibm.rhrz.uni-bonn.de
 
Views expressed in my article are strictly private and do not represent
views of any institution at RFWU Bonn (Germany).
 
 
 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,sci.econ,soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.african.american,sci.electronics,misc.consumers,misc.education,misc.entrepreneurs
From: miklg@acuson.com (Michael Goldman )
Subject: Re: DOES AMERICA SAY YES TO JAPAN?
Organization: Acuson; Mountain View, California
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 16:26:23 GMT

	Everyone has talked about books read, or newspaper
	articles, or TV expose's to prove or not that
	Japan is open or closed.  I would like to add
	some personal experience.  I have been working for
	17 years in cos., both Japanese and American that
	do business in Japan.  I have met many Japanese and
	Americans who have worked in Japan-US trade as
	businessmen and -women in the day to day routines
	of trying to sell stuff.  No one, get that, not a
	_single_ one of them, would say that Japan is an open
	society in terms of trade.  It is universally known
	and understood by all those involved that Japan's
	MITI will keep out foreign goods as much as possible
	and protect and coordinate Japanese business both
	in Japan and in the US.

	My experience includes data-comm, telecomm, and other
	hi-tech industries.  I have also met people in agricultural
	trade who say the same thing, in a variety of product areas.
	These people include Japanese and Americans working in
	every combination of Japanese and American cos. in Japan
	and the US.

	Publicly, Japanese cos. will maintain a different line as
	will US cos. trying to do business in Japan, because MITI
	will make life unbearable unless they toe the party line,
	but privately, everyone at every level knows that the
	Japan-bashers are right.  The Japanese people are being
	oppressed by this more than the Americans, but they really
	have no choice in this, either.

	I have the greatest respect for people like Drucker and
	Thurow, but they have no way of getting the truth
	unless they leave academia and work in the actual
	situations.

	- Michael Goldman

-- 
"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have
exhausted all other alternatives." - Abba Eban
	Disclaimer:  All views are solely my own & not the views of Acuson.
	<sun!sono!miklg>  or  [miklg@acuson.com]
From: jcliu@four-lab4.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Liu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Hus Fu and the Japanese
Date: 24 Dec 1992 20:35:17 GMT
Organization: UC Berkeley Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
NNTP-Posting-Host: four-lab4.berkeley.edu

In article <1992Dec24.200105.17114@u.washington.edu> yeonwook@hardy.u.
washington.edu (Y.W.m.c.) writes:

>In article <ljk1miINN9ei@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> stlin@stevelin.Eng.Sun.COM 
>(Steven Lin) writes:
> >In article <1hbcbgINNmou@agate.berkeley.edu>  (Henry Robertson) writes:
> > >I don't understand what the fuss is about.  It's obvious to anyone that the
> > >Japanese are predominantly of East Asian descent, not Polynesian or 

[stuff deleted]

  >Hmm..well, scientifically, your claim that Japanese are brothers of Chinese
  >is just as strong as the Malay claim of brotherhood. Remember, the Japanese
  >people are not just a direct "branch" of Chinese descendents. Throughout

[more stuff deleted] 

Instead of beating back and forth subjective arguments based on untested
theories about cultural origins, if you really want to quantify how closely
related Japanese, Korean, Chinese and other far east Asians culturally
AND genetically are, then the first step is just a relatively straight 
forward RNA protein test.  The data will quantify the similarities as
well as subtle differences.  The data is probably already available, so
for those anthro-majors out there who have been reluctant to get dirty
with quantitative data, your arguments back and forth on the net are bogus 
until you've checked the data out and done some analysis.

You've got the technology...why don't you use it?

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          |
=======================================================================
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: miklg@acuson.com (Michael Goldman )
Subject: Re: Japanese attitude toward divorce law
Organization: Acuson; Mountain View, California
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 15:37:35 GMT

hhwu@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (eric.wu) writes:
>follow them.  Or, the law is so difficult that it says one 
>thing and people does another.  How does Japanese react to 
>the divorce law?  In the show the couple seemed just ignored it.  

	I can't speak to the law, but Japanese divorce rates
	are within the normal range for the world as a whole.
	(THe US is exceptionally high, and has been for over
	100 years).

	- Michael Goldman

-- 
"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have
exhausted all other alternatives." - Abba Eban
	Disclaimer:  All views are solely my own & not the views of Acuson.
	<sun!sono!miklg>  or  [miklg@acuson.com]
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: japlady@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Rebecca Radnor)
Subject: Re: brainwashed
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 08:21:37 GMT


I'm rather saddened by this whole discussion.  Firstly, we hashed this out
a long time ago, so it's tedious to restate everything again, which
probubly explains why there have been so few intellegent postings.

secondly,  to claim that one culture is ahead or behind another assumes a
evolutionary progession of improvement.  Whether we are better than our
ancestors or people in other cultures is an impossible and predjudiced
judgment.  Who is to say whether (and i'm playing devils advocate so don't
flame me) the break down of the family unit that has resulted from the lack
of a fulltime or main caregiver  in the rasining of children in this
society has been benifical.  

Thirdly, you are falling into a trap that devalues peoples efforts in the
private/domestic domain.  You are saying that to work in an office is more
valuable than running a home or raising children.  

Japanese women when faced with these arguements (and I've done interviews
on this so I'm not just citing literature but my own research as well) want
to know why their american sisters want them to work in an office where
there is always someone telling them what to do, rather than in the home
where they are the boss, on the whole manage the familial accounts, have
their husband's paychecks made out in the wife's name, and hand out an
allouance to their husband.  In addition, Japanese wives see their role as
creating the infrastracture without which non of the public domain could
funciton. 

Before you bemone the position of others, try to stand in their shoes
rather than judge them from your ideology (rather than your reality --
please note we American woman are not as well off as we would like to
believe.  Many of us must now burdon a double workload and receive little
credit, others are held behind glass ceilings or unequal pay.).
-- 
Rebecca Radnor                \\ I know everything,
NU Anthroplogy Department     \\ I know nothing
JAP= Jewish.American.Princess \\ I used to put sticks under the back porch 
     & Japan specialist	      \\      and wait for them to petrify.
From: tobac@ub-tky.UBSPD.CO.JP (Bach Frederic)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Sumo - Hatsu Basho Banzuke
Date: 24 Dec 92 09:11:47 GMT
Organization: UBS Phillips & Drew INT'L Ltd. TOKYO, JAPAN


Banzuke for Heisei 5 Hatsu Basho (Jan. 1993)

East		Rank	West
Akebono		Ozeki		Konishiki
Takahanada	Sekiwake	Kotonishiki
Musashimaru			Kirishima
Daishoho	Komusubi	Takamisugi
Akinoshima	1 Maegashira	Kushimaumi
Tomoefuji	2		Misugisato
Wakahanada	3		Wakashoyo
Daizen		4		Toyonoumi
Terao		5		Takatoriki
Tochinowaka	6		Kyokudozan
Takanonami	7		Kitakachidoki
Oginohana	8		Kotonowaka
Kototsubaki	9		Kotobeppu
Tokitsunada	10		Mitoizumi
Kasugafuji	11		Kirinishiki
Kotoinazuma	12		Tamakairiki
Tatsuhikari	13		Kiraiho
Naminohana	14		Daishoyama
Kotogaume	15		Kotofuji
Mainoumi	16		Kyokugozan

Tournament starts Jan. 10 at Tokyo Kokugikan.
-- 
    __  _    
** ||_ /_| **   Fred "I'll be" Bach               (tobac@ub-tky.UBSPD.CO.JP) 
** || /__| **   [Je suis athee, Dieu merci.]          Tel. 813-3597-1595

Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: jcliu@euler.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Liu - Nucl. Engin. UC Berkeley)
Subject: Re: Comfort girls?
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 21:43:00 GMT

In article <RHB.93Jan1204609@world.std.com> rhb@world.std.com 
(Robert H Brueckner) writes:

  >It can be proven that the Japanese used sex as a weapon in this case.
  >If you presume also to accuse the U.S. in this way, however, you are
  >guilty of a material fallacy of logic known as "post hoc ergo propter
  >hoc," 

I would have to agree with Mr. Brueckner in this case.  Americans
have tended to be the most benevolent of dictators in the world.  The
issue of one nation's women having sex with the occupying American's does
not imply the acts were performed under duress.  Remember that women as
well as men all over the world also consider their mate's ability to 
provide certain material things in life important in their decision
whether or not to have sex.

I don't want to sound Freudian...but...
I think a lot of the hidden resentment in the posts which argue "Japan 
raped Chinese women" and "Americans raped Vietnamese women", etc...are
results of sexual insecurity of the individuals who've posted them.  How
so?  Because the need to couple Nationalistic sentiments into the
argument against rape implies some hidden need for reinforcement.  Rape
itself is wrong regardless of who commits the crime.  To bring in
Nationalism in order to garner hate upon another peoples implies
weakness a priori in one's sexual psyche. 

For example, many Asian Americans on the Berkeley campus have expressed
some resentment that all the "White" dudes are scamming on "their" girls.
In fact a very controversial article was written in the Daily Californian,
a local newspaper.  The author, an American Born Chinese, nearly accused
the Anglo's of "stealing" Chinese girls...and Chinese girls of being
"race traitors."

Just as my older sister, who's happily married to a white guy, sometimes 
gets spit on by Chinese old folks when they walk together in Beijing and
called a race traitor, I can see some of the Anglo Fraternity boys on 
campus kinda of frown and turn green with envy when one of my Asian buddies
walks arm in arm with his beautiful blonde girl friend.

Nationalism and rape are separate issues.  I don't want to sound like
I'm reducing heinousness of the Nanjing Massacre, but even in that
I'm certain there were at least some Japanese who did not agree with the
policy of free looting, rape, and plundering.  The proof lies in a
number of Japanese who took Chinese wives who went back to Japan with
them.  In fact, the owner of a small Chinese restaurant in Oomori
is the son of such a couple.

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: ra01+@andrew.cmu.edu (Rikiya Asano)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Lawrence E. Walsh
Date: 26 Dec 92 17:34:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.MfDGEpa00iV4420WY4
	<1992Dec26.143029.22900@Csli.Stanford.EDU>
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Ladies and Gentlemen,

.

                      Only a few time does humanity get the opportunity to have
one of it own show the rest that there is light in the shadows of
darkness. I have come to know very few face to face. One of these highly
moral and responsibe individuals is Mr. Lawrence E. Walsh-Independent
Counsel. I praise you for your dilligence and for the love that you have
for you country. As I'am
looking at photograghy of your face, I see a man that I never was.
Brillant but firm. A caring serious individual. If I were what I once
was I would pray each day to become as a quarter of the individaul that
you are. I highly admire your
person. 

Mr. Walsh, you did not lose. Democracy lost. I know that in the end you
will win
and more. Already you have written your name in the annals of righteousness and
justice. You, the man, have went into the dark hearts of evil men and
have brought them to their knees. In panic they were, fearing that their
evil deeds
had finally caught up with them. It is not over! You will win in the
end! But, as a warning, you must continue to be humble and a good, fair
man. Do not let
the pain that comes when evilness survives make you fight 'fire with
fire'. I do now thereby proclaim that my intuition is at your desposal.
And, also I ordain you a subject in my kingdom which is yet- under
construction. 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
From: George_Taylor@mindlink.bc.ca (George Taylor)
Subject: STUCK IN TOKYO
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 05:10:45 GMT

I am flying to Narita from Vancouver B.C. Canada on Dec 29th pprobably
arriving in Tokyo on the 30th (I know, bad timing) However it was not my
intention to stay in Tokyo, but I cant get a connecting flight out to Mani
lla until Jan 3rd) Over the last while I have been reading this net. There is
no way I can afford to stay in Tokyo because it seems prohibitively expensive
I have thought about the Youth Hostel but will it be open over the holiday
period ? Will most shops and stuff be closed for this period. Is there a way
not to spend a lot of money while I am ther for a short period of time. Are
the Japanese really as racist as this net makes them out to be ?
--
.signature=George_Taylor@mindlink.bc.ca
From: rhb@world.std.com (Robert H Brueckner)
Subject: Re: Pheromones and Nihon Otoko (was Re: yellow cabs")
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 13:09:47 GMT

In article <1hngj8INNrno@agate.berkeley.edu> jcliu@four-lab4.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Liu) writes:


     >some Japanese girls, say that we are less attractive
     >than foreigners.  (We don't say "I love you" so much,
     >we aren't strong....and so on.)

   IMO, it's your sweat dude.  Foreigners, especially Americans eat more 
   animal protein. :-)  They may also possess higher testosterone levels
   which combined produce badder smelling body odour (BO) but also more 
   musk in their sweat. 
[MUCH MORE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS IDEA DELETED]

Liu-san,

This, I hope, is a jest, something on the order of Swift's "A Modest
Proposal."  Otherwise I think your addiction to karaoke has given you
a karaatama.

Sincerely,

RB

-- 
|"The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it makes free those who  |
| have loved it." -- George Santayana  // Opinions expressed here, when |
| clear and persuasive, are my own. --Rob Brueckner (rhb@world.std.com) |
From: cheung@CAM.ORG (Shirley Cheung)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: SEXISM--CHANGING?
Date: 24 Dec 92 20:14:52 GMT
Organization: Champlain Regional College, St-Lambert QC  CANADA


Hello all,

I have been following up the sexism issue on the net for days now. And
there's an intriguing question that has been bugging me. Given the fact
that most Japanese women are now VERY well educated, how can they bear to
have a salaried position less than men. Are they stupid or something?
Don't the companies look for QUALIFIED workers regardless of the basis of
gender. In fact, the gender issue here is totally irrelevant to the
productivity of one firm. Why are people still be that TRADITION?

As the world is getting smaller and smaller, as more information regarding
to the social situation of both the Western and the Eastern countries, I
like to know how long will the Japanese society take in order to achieve
sex-equality. 

I know that the Japanese women are the most brilliant people in the world.
How can they be so closed-minded and let others to decide their own future
and also let them to DEPRIVE their RIGHTS in the workforce?? In my
opinion, I strongly believe that if there's a GREAT (1-2million) of women
who are willing to initiate some drastic actions in Japan (demonstratio,
petition, etc.), the society will accelerate in a faster pace. 

Sadly, there are so few Japanese women on the net which makes me almost
impossible to understand them. Do you know any women who wants to talk
about this issue with me?

my address : cheung@cam.org

thanks for yr comments
shirley
From: cheung@CAM.ORG (Shirley Cheung)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: JAPANESE WOMEN CONTACTS THRU EMAILS?
Date: 23 Dec 92 02:09:19 GMT
Organization: Champlain Regional College, St-Lambert QC  CANADA


hello all!		

I have been very glad that I have many interesting replies from my
postings regarding  to Japanese sexism at the workplace. However, in order
to have a better understanding of the issue, I prefer to have some email
Japanese women contacts thru email. I am wondering if you know any friends
who are willing to exchange their opinion with me.

THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR REPLY!


Best regards,
shirley	
cheung@cam.org
From: jcliu@four-lab4.Berkeley.EDU (James C. Liu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Roman Hikou (was: Pheromones,otoko,and cabs)
Date: 31 Dec 1992 08:45:09 GMT
Organization: UC Berkeley Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
NNTP-Posting-Host: four-lab4.berkeley.edu
Summary: correction

In article <1hubj3INN9gc@agate.berkeley.edu> I write:

  >             Truth is I just picked up 3 suits and 3 sport coats for
  >under $900 and to fit my 48L frame in Japan it would have cost me at
  >least Y120,000.  Sleeve length, fit in the back and the look of the
          ^^^^^^^

That's just for 1 custom tailored suit.  If you know where I can get it
done for less in Tokyo, please email me.

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          |
=======================================================================