It seems like residents of Osaka have a good brain for mathematics. They instantly remember prices and differences of prices between shops. But that is just a generalization, of course. However, with the downturn of the current stock markets many Osakans are feeling the sensitive pinch of price increases everywhere.
Osaka residents are said to be the most sensitive to prices, not only in Japan but arguably in the world.
Many housewives in Osaka try to routinely beat down prices because they enjoy it as a kind of game and they don’t mind if rejected.
Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto recently tried to pry on local residents’ sensitivities to figures when he released the results of academic achievement tests for each municipality in the prefecture. As the prefecture’s results were ranked low compared to other prefectures across the country for two consecutive years, the governor intends to ask each municipality in the prefecture to take serious measures to improve schoolchildren’s academic abilities.
It is indispensable that local governments share information on education with residents to gain support from the local community for schools. However, residents have the freedom to move to another area to allow their children to receive a better education. Close attention should be paid to whether disclosure of the achievement test results will encourage residents to support schools in their neighborhood or expand disparities in academic achievements between regions.
From 2012 onwards, NHK has decided to lower it’s viewership fee.
Can someone tell me what the heck viewership fee is? I am accustomed to paying a month flat rate for my internet/cable tv/ phone line but I have never heard of a viewership fee before.
Geezus…
Public broadcaster NHK has decided to slash viewer fees from the business year of 2012, using 10 percent of the revenue from the previous year’s fees, NHK officials said.
This will be the first time for NHK to reduce viewer fees since the charge system was established under the 1950 Broadcast Law. The decision has been incorporated in the new corporate plan endorsed by NHK’s Board of Governors on Tuesday.
The broadcaster estimates that it will gain 680 billion yen in viewer fees in fiscal 2011 and intends to use 68 billion yen of the amount to finance reductions in the charges the following business year.
NHK is considering an across-the-board slash in fees for terrestrial broadcasting, a cut in additional charges for viewing satellite broadcasting and a reduction and exemption of fees for low-income elderly people. However, the broadcaster intends to discuss how to implement the plan next fiscal year or later.
NHK’s Executive Board referred the draft, which includes projected revenues and outlays from fiscal 2009 to 2011, to the broadcaster’s Board of Governors on Oct. 7 for approval.
It’s not everyday that a country sees to three of its fellow nationals winning the Nobel Prize for Physics. The study from these Japanese scientists involves the new discoveries on subatomic physics.
Two Japanese citizens and a Japanese-born American won the 2008 Nobel Prize in physics for discoveries in the world of subatomic physics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Tuesday.
American Yoichiro Nambu, 87, of the University of Chicago, won half of the prize for the discovery of a mechanism called spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics. Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa of Japan shared the other half of the prize for discovering the origin of the broken symmetry that predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature.
“Spontaneous broken symmetry conceals nature’s order under an apparently jumbled surface,” the academy said in its citation. “Nambu’s theories permeate the standard model of elementary particle physics. The model unifies the smallest building blocks of all matter and three of nature’s four forces in one single theory.”
Aki Matsuri, another seasonal festival that coincides with autumn in Japan. There are very few cultures that celebrate the start of a season and I find it rather poignant that the Japanese people do with their Shinto beliefs. Anyway, check out this recent video of Aki Matsuri in Kichijoji.
In Japan, the average paid vacation taken by the Japanese is only 8 days per year. That is astoundingly low as compared to France with 34 days paid vacation, followed by Italy and Spain with 27 days of paid vacation taken each year.
Among the reasons why Japanese employees can’t take paid holidays were, “Too busy with work” and “Their bosses and colleagues have yet to take their paid leave,” the survey found. When asked what countermeasures should be introduced to deal with the problem, most people said, “Managers should encourage workers to take more paid holidays.” The survey has underscored the importance of creating an environment that makes it easy for employees to take paid leave.
Did you know that you could look up the JR Train’s timetable online?
Some timetables in Japan can be so confusing for a foreigner that getting around may be stalled because of the confusion. There are times when you have to switch trains in different stations, with different colored lines in different times.
But now, you do not need to walk to a station anymore and look at this map:
You can just go to Hyperdia to look at all your JR train’s timetable:)
Currently there is a holiday tour in Japan that stresses on slow living and eco-friendly options. With the rise of fuel prices and expensive tickets, Japanese people are definitely opting to stay home bound for their holidays.
The Tokachi Hokkaido Country LIving is one such tour that promotes country living style to their clients. Tourists will travel to beautiful remote areas and living in a cottage style life. The price for an amish living costs around 250,000 Yen for this tour.
- 
