what's bad in japan?

[tommasi]

Originally Posted by Henbaka

What do you mean by "average" students?

Anwyays, it's an exchange so I don't pay for the school (if you dont mean books etc?) I won't live in their dorm either.

I'm sure I'll enjoy it loads, and then some. Thank you!

I think you will find out what I meant by average when you go there.

There is a rivalry between Waseda and Keio which also reflects their characteristics.

We say rich for Keio and poor for Waseda.

Keio's original campus in Kanagawa is surrounded with rich neighborhoods and that's kind of demographics that they get in their student body.

Waseda on the other hand, is located in the heart of Tokyo just off of Shinjuku and the surrounding communities are much more old fashion.

If I have to choose, I would choose Waseda over Keio because I'm not rich and I can only hang out with average kids like myself.

[Paul11]

Originally Posted by Wasabista

Banks in Japan are indeed primitive compared to most advanced countries. At least judging by the HOUR it took me to open a bank account at Mizuho, and the lack of 24-hour ATMs (at least where I live).

As for women in Japan, this is a big topic and I'm not really sure it's women who are being discriminated against. What is clear is that Japan is blessed with a large population of educated and talented women, whose abilities are wasted because they are not finding their way into jobs where they can put those talents to use. This is changing but, as so often in Japan, slowly.

I think the slow pace of change is good. It allows time for people to assimilate to the changes. It also allows people to decide whether or not to keep the traditional things and how to blend the trad. with the modern.

Part of American culture is change and throwing away the traditional. This change often comes too quick and leaves people stressed and without direction provided by traditional ideas. We've changed some things so quickly that probelms arise that we didn't contemplate, and it's too late to turn back.

Slow change is good.

[Henbaka]

Originally Posted by tommasi

I think you will find out what I meant by average when you go there.

There is a rivalry between Waseda and Keio which also reflects their characteristics.

We say rich for Keio and poor for Waseda.

Keio's original campus in Kanagawa is surrounded with rich neighborhoods and that's kind of demographics that they get in their student body.

Waseda on the other hand, is located in the heart of Tokyo just off of Shinjuku and the surrounding communities are much more old fashion.

If I have to choose, I would choose Waseda over Keio because I'm not rich and I can only hang out with average kids like myself.

Ah, I get it. Well, then I'm glad I put Waseda as my 1st choice.

[blimp]

Originally Posted by Paul11

I think the slow pace of change is good. It allows time for people to assimilate to the changes. It also allows people to decide whether or not to keep the traditional things and how to blend the trad. with the modern.

Part of American culture is change and throwing away the traditional. This change often comes too quick and leaves people stressed and without direction provided by traditional ideas. We've changed some things so quickly that probelms arise that we didn't contemplate, and it's too late to turn back.

Slow change is good.

i fail to see how wasting part of a population due to their sex has anything to do with stress, but perhaps i am just not open-minded enough (pun intended).

how many women are there in the diet? about 10 % in 2005
how many of the 18 ministers in the cabinet r women? 2, both ministers without a ministry
how many female CEOs or chairmen in japans 100 biggest companies?
i only know of one, tomoyo nonaka of sanyo. fumiko hayashi is no longer ceo of daiei. perhaps someone else knows of another female ceo or chairman?
this study shows that only 0.44 % (!) of japanese fathers take parental leave

[Henbaka]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

Not good or inconveniant...

... I have never been to Japan, but they have the same tradition here as in Thailand; take shoes off at the door. It annoys me. I prefer to be invited in as I am, provided my shoes are not dirty, rather than asked to partially undress before being welcome...

Don't people in most places of the world take off their shoes when entering someones home? I would never just walk into someones house with my shoes on (Sweden). I mean, come on, how often can you walk outside, and not get your shoes atleast a little bit dirty/dusty/wet?

[jrocka83]

Expensive brand name clothing. 4x more expensive then what you would buy it for in the states.

Also finding sizes that fit you if you are large. XL in Japan is a medium in the states. I wear L or XL clothing in the states. In Japan i have to buy 2XL or 3XL, Its insane.

Owning a car. Way expensive. High insurence, Higher Gas prices, JCI, Road Tax, Traffic, and slow speed limits. Parking spaces are hard to find or expensive. This why most people use public transportation in Japan.

Air conditioning and Heaters. Most places are equiped with space AC or heaters. Central air is rare. You have to turn on and off your Heat when you come and go, becuase most heaters run on gas. Japanese house are not well insulated, they get very cold and very hot.

[Paul11]

Originally Posted by blimp

i fail to see how wasting part of a population due to their sex has anything to do with stress, but perhaps i am just not open-minded enough (pun intended).

how many women are there in the diet? about 10 % in 2005
how many of the 18 ministers in the cabinet r women? 2, both ministers without a ministry
how many female CEOs or chairmen in japans 100 biggest companies?
i only know of one, tomoyo nonaka of sanyo. fumiko hayashi is no longer ceo of daiei. perhaps someone else knows of another female ceo or chairman?
this study shows that only 0.44 % (!) of japanese fathers take parental leave

What?! I never said that stuff shouldn't change. I just said change is better slow than sudden. Look at the women's movement in America. It brought great advances and enpowered women. It also brought extra stresses and made things more difficult for women, and sometimes men, because the change was quick and ill thought-out.

But over-reaction is ok if you're into that.

[blimp]

there r some historians that say that before the plough, men and women were equal, but since the plough required raw strength man became more powerful. now that was 8,000 years ago according to wikipedia. how slow do u want the change to be?

i still don't understand why some ppl have to wait to have equal opportunities.

[Paul11]

Originally Posted by blimp

there r some historians that say that before the plough, men and women were equal, but since the plough required raw strength man became more powerful. now that was 8,000 years ago according to wikipedia. how slow do u want the change to be?

i still don't understand why some ppl have to wait to have equal opportunities.

before the plow in a few societies women were respected because they brought in a majority of the calories among hunter and gatherers. Among agricultural societies women perform most of the drudge work including building houses, raising animals, cooking, farming, raising children and so on. while the men sit and watch for enemies, that usually don't come. in either case, women perform much more work than men. Only in very few hunter gatherer societies such as the San of the kalihari is there a realistic egalitarianism.

what you have to see in Japan is that women have a different type of power than men. there is what's called a division of labor between the sexes, where each has it's roles and responsibilities. Ever notice how women manage the money and give their husband's an allowance, which is rarely as much as they want, even though they earn it?

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by blimp

i fail to see how wasting part of a population due to their sex has anything to do with stress, but perhaps i am just not open-minded enough (pun intended).

how many women are there in the diet? about 10 % in 2005
how many of the 18 ministers in the cabinet r women? 2, both ministers without a ministry
how many female CEOs or chairmen in japans 100 biggest companies?
i only know of one, tomoyo nonaka of sanyo. fumiko hayashi is no longer ceo of daiei. perhaps someone else knows of another female ceo or chairman?
this study shows that only 0.44 % (!) of japanese fathers take parental leave

One thing that always irritates me about the quoting of all these figures is that everyone always seems to apply them to their own society`s thinking.

What is to say that women WANT to be in these positions of power? What makes you assume that women WANT to work the same levels as men? I`m on the PTA at my son`s kindergarten, and I can assure you that there isn`t a working mother there that I`ve spoken to who wouldn`t JUMP at the chance to stop working and be a SAHM. I went to a 4 year university here - I can also assure you that 9 out of 10 (probably more, really) of my female classmates listed their life plans as "Work in the job of choice for a few years until a husband is found, then quit and be a stay at home wife!" Obviously, not every woman thinks like that. There are plenty of women who do want to continue working, and rise up in the company ranks... And more often than not, companies are *happy* to accommodate them because the company actually gets tax breaks etc from the government for it. But there aren`t that many women who agree to it.
Seriously, one of our family friends is a great skilled worker, enjoys work, but doesn`t want any responsibility - just cash. So when her employer offers to promote her, she refuses, and if they still promote her she changes jobs. She`s on her 6th or 7th.
As for paternal leave - traditionally a wife goes home (to her parents`) to have a baby and stays there for the first couple of months. This also coincides with the time frame most husbands have to take their leave during. So most don`t, and either work overtime during that time (as the house it empty anyway) or do a "time save" and use that unused leave later on as part of another vacation - this time when the family is together (what we did.)

Applying western feminist ideals to Japan just doesn`t work.