Archive for June, 2009

Making kites in Japan

A pretty nice report from Al Jazeera about a Japanese kite maker:

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Bobby Ologun goes ape

Nigerian-Japanese TV talento Bobby Ologun visits a zoo with his kids, going crazy when he encounters chimpanzees:

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Taro Aso holds a baby

Prime Minister Taro Aso, whose popularity seems to be dropping daily, recently assured supporters that his party will suffer a close defeat.

But it’s not all bad news for him. It seems at least one person likes him enough to present him with a human infant:

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Odaiba Gundam in action

The fence around the giant Gundam in Odaiba has been taken down, allowing people to take unobstructed video of it in all its splendor:

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Philippine President wants Japan to accept more workers (including English teachers)

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wants to send Filipino English teachers to work in Japan:

In an interview with Japanese public broadcaster N-H-K, Arroyo hailed Tokyo’s acceptance of Philippine nurses and care workers in line with the economic partnership pact signed between the two countries in 2006.

“This is a milestone because it is the first visible impact on the benefit” of the pact, said Arroyo, who is on a visit to Japan.

Seeking an increase in the number Japan would accept, Arroyo said Manila was ready to send more Philippine workers such as English teachers and information technology engineers to Japan.

There are, of course, already some Philippine citizens teaching English in Japan. I’ve encountered a few Filipinos who teach English as ALT’s at Japanese junior high schools. They were far better at speaking English than the Japanese English teachers they were assisting, but their English was not at a native level. They worked for private dispatch companies that paid them less than 160,000 yen a month, far below the typical wage native English speakers earned doing the same job. A few of them had impressive teaching qualifications and had taught for years back in their country, but they still were paid less than native English speakers straight out of college with no training or work experience.

If Arroyo’s desired opening of the Japanese market to Filipino English teachers became a reality, would companies across the industry fire their native English speakers and replace them with cheaper Philippine citizens? It is possible that the hiring of lower cost English teachers could attract customers with cheaper English lessons, but many Japanese customers would probably willing to pay more to have a native English speaker as a teacher (regardless of the actual teaching qualifications of each teacher).

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Tommy Lee Jones: Japanese Detective

Tommy Lee Jones’ latest Boss Coffee commercial make him a character in a classic detective drama (last 4 minutes of the video clip contain still photos from the old drama):

[hat tip to Aceface]

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)