Japanese Culture

[LynnieS]

In the major cities, some places have started to have foreigner-friendly staff available who can help out. The Takashimaya department store in Shinjuku have a few English speakers the last time I checked. It'll be a gamble, but you can always ask. Store staff is usually quite polite and will try and help where possible, but try and be patient. English, despite being taught in school, still can be hard for people to understand; it, IMHO, could well get worse also.

Akihabara is fine to go year-round, but I would probably stay away in July and August. Tokyo, during those months, gets hot and humid, and then comes the typhoon season. May is - and has been - fine, but June is the rainy season.

[naoya]

I'm sorry I can't reply questions. Now it is term exam season so I have a lot of reports .
But this week I don't have so many reports.

And thank you for supplying some answer to a question instead of me.

[Samari]

Me with my Japanese Pasmo. Useless now that I'm back in California. I need to throw it away. I wish I was back in Tokyo.

[Vexx]

Step 1: get a degree - perhaps doublemajor in education and something, Step 2: do as many JET stints as they'll let you and make contacts for later work visas.
Until then, hit all the San Francisco Japanese festivals....

[WanderingKnight]

Reading what Vexx posts, I feel compelled to post that I'm thinking on taking the Gakubu (5 years) scholarship the Japanese Embassy here offers next year. I have many reasons for doing that and not getting my degree as an English translator here (various, very conflictive and probably incoherent for anyone that's not myself ). I have time to take it till I'm 22, and until then I'm working my ass off and studying Japanese (and math! I have to take a math exam to pass, and I'm going there to study language -_- How much sense does that make?) when I have the time.

Getting a scholarship when not aligned with any "practical" careers (engineering et al) is pretty hard, or at least that's what I've found out while researching this stuff.

I also heard Spanish professors in Japan were earning around 100 USD/hour, something that seems like a dream for what I'm earning working in a full-time job here... I wonder how far-fetched that is.

[LiberLibri]

@bluejazz87
Use it when you come to the island again!
I have none though now I am in Japan, having returned from Europe.

@WanderingKnight

There are a lot of scholorships available to international students in Japan. You can apply not only to the ones the government offers, but also to those private organisations do. Read this document throughly. And, regional governments often have student-exchange programmes. Buenos Aires has concluded a sister-city agreement with Osaka, so you should also ask to Osaka city.

As for the Spanish professors, yes, but it is the case of an academic class. You should have the knowledge on literature, political science and sociology of your country. A mere language teacher cannot earn so much. A quick search tells me the wage standard is around 30 USD/hour.

[LynnieS]

Speaking of the JET program, someone I know here told me earlier that Nagoya is going off of it as it was very expensive. Does anyone know if this is something of an one-off or a general trend?

[Samari]

Originally Posted by LiberLibri

@bluejazz87
Use it when you come to the island again!
I have none though now I am in Japan, having returned from Europe.

Ha it will probably be useless by the time I return.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by LynnieS

Speaking of the JET program, someone I know here told me earlier that Nagoya is going off of it as it was very expensive. Does anyone know if this is something of an one-off or a general trend?

I use the JET program as an example, but there are dozens of small schools and businesses that do the same thing. Having NOVA crash and burn really stirred things up for a while but other businesses are creeping into the niches.
JET is rather expensive - which gives the other businesses a toe-hold.

OTOH -- JET is mature, stable, and is a known-quantity-of-risk in how they treat their employees. The other competitors are more "your mileage may vary".

[naoya]

I don't know JET.

But now I investigate JASSO's scholarships. This is a most biggest group what support students in Japan.

JASSO has cholarships for foreigner.

I don't know this is useful for you. But please read this one time.


http://www.jasso.go.jp/study_j/docum...hips07_e02.pdf

http://www.jasso.go.jp/study_j/scholarships_e.html


>>WanderingKnight

By the way, professers salary is a one of the most highest in Japan. They get about 12 million JPY.

[LynnieS]

12 million JPY is one of the highest? I remember kj1980 once posting something on salaries in the forums. I think that he mentioned 8 million being a very respectable salary in it.

I'm more than () a few years out of school, and most of the foreigners whom I know are professionals who have also been around the block a few times; the recruiting events that the kohei do are in and for their local universities. Certainly those people who are into grad programs like MBAs look to be more interested going to China than Japan - although with that many students applying, I would be more keen to go elsewhere myself. But it's good to see that there are programs for students still!

[LiberLibri]

Originally Posted by naoya

By the way, professers salary is a one of the most highest in Japan. They get about 12 million JPY.

I don't think so.

The stock report shows that the average saraly of Fuji TV is 15.72 million, Dentsu 13.34 million. You should also note that the numbers are average including the young interns. It is not rare for executives to achieve salaries more than 30 million. You may be confused that some manufacturing companies like Toyota have relatively low salariies in the statistics, but it is because such companies hold huge number of blue collars. I once worked at one of the vast conglomerates, and my boss received more than 20 million in his thirties.

In my view, professors, bureaucrats and judges are compelled to tolerate the low income compared to their professionality in Japan.

[naoya]

I think my expression was bad so I cofused you.

12 million JPY is professer's average annual salary, Fuji TV is a company.Not a job.

The annual income of the professor is the second grade of the ranking. And this ranking is for the employee.

The executive of the enterprise is certainly obtaining the high pay. But the salary is far cheaper than United States's.


LiberLibri, I might misidentify and please forgive me, at that time.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by LiberLibri

In my view, professors, bureaucrats and judges are compelled to tolerate the low income compared to their professionality in Japan.

Perhaps because they get an "iron rice cooker", no?


PS: I'm not sure if that's the right expression......

[yezhanquan]

Rice bowl, rice cooker, they're about the same, aren't they?

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by naoya

The annual income of the professor is the second grade of the ranking. And this ranking is for the employee

I'm a bit confused here. It sounds like jobs are divided up into different tiers - almost like the blue collar versus white collar jobs of which I knew from the U.S. - but at a more detailed level. Is there a listing of the breakdown somewhere?

[LiberLibri]

Originally Posted by Kang Seung Jae

Perhaps because they get an "iron rice cooker", no?

Yes, but in Japanese people do not use such expression (symbolising high dignity by a rice bowl) except an idiom.

(* 鼎の軽重を問う kanae no keichou o tou : to doubt someone's value)

They are motivated by something other than money; love to knowledge, patriotism, strong sense of justice, or anything else. The system relying on the mental satisfaction has gone well so far. But these days students tend to avoid the "honourable" jobs. More and more young executives in the ministries resign and find posts in private thinktanks and consulting firms. I think there should be reforms of human resource policy in the fields above.

[Autumn Demon]

“reform with no sacred cows”

Koizumi Jun'ichiro said something like that when he took office; what exactly does it mean? What does the term "sacred cows" mean in Japan?

[LiberLibri]

Originally Posted by Autumn Demon

“reform with no sacred cows”

Koizumi Jun'ichiro said something like that when he took office; what exactly does it mean? What does the term "sacred cows" mean in Japan?

The original phrasing was 聖域なき改革. I do not know who and why translated the wording 聖域 into "sacred cow", but it means literally a sanctuary. In this context, Mr. Koizumi meant he was going to reform anything without exception.

There have been a lot of sanctuaries, where nobody could intrude and correct the corruption in Japanese politics. Imagine the diplomatic policy of the US toward Middle East; it is not the people but the lobbyists that exercise strong influence on the decision. In Japan, the biggest problem is not the diplomacy but the excessive amount of public agencies. They were feeded on the profit of Postal Saving among all. So Koizumi decided to privatise Japan Post and to destroy the ineffective budget suckers. The public agencies were protected by powerful politicians and bureaucrats, so he emphasised he would do without any special exception.

[yezhanquan]

Guess the Japanese saying equates to the idiom "Slaying the sacred cow".