w00kie's ramblings

Tag: japan

  • Golden Parachutes or Organized Cartel: which is more popular?

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    w00kie
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    Last week my company, Valeo, made the frontpage of all the big newspapers (at least in Europe) as our CEO stepped down and was given a 3.2M€ “golden parachute” farewell bonus in spite of the company needing governmental aid to stay afloat. The French government promptly started working on a new law to ban such…

  • On my way to work

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    w00kie
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    Japan is not only Tokyo with its crowded street crossings and neon lights. It’s also the old countryside, small traditional (and not so traditional) houses with rice paddies or vegetable farm in the backyard. I live in Tokyo (technically not but almost in the city limit) but I work in a factory way out in…

  • Obama at the Pachinko – YES WE CAN

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    w00kie
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    Took a photo of a sign for a pachinko in front of my train station: It says: Official Declaration – YES WE CAN WEEK Obama comes to New Daiei!? (that’s the name of the pachinko) The token black dude posing as a fake Obama in the photo reminds of Eddie Murphy’s sidekick in “Coming to…

  • Skull and Ice

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    w00kie
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    Random shots I took lately while walking around Tokyo on the weekend with my trusty Nikon D60 50mm f/1.4. A skull chariot sculpture in Marunouchi. An abandoned ice-cream stand-sign in Koenji.

  • Driving in Tokyo

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    w00kie
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    A friend of mine received his new car last weekend and we went driving around town all saturday night and sunday afternoon. Fun thing to do with a car in Tokyo: drive to Yokohama’s 中華街 to eat chinese food for lunch a Sunday afternoon after partying. It really got me into thinking I need to…

  • JLPT Fail

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    w00kie
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    For all the hundreds of people waiting for their JLPT results to arrive and coming to my blog via google searches, know that this year’s score slip has arrived yesterday in Japan. As I was expecting, I failed level 2 again for lack of studying… JLPT 2008 score: 217/400 Vocabulary/Kanji: 58/100 Listening: 81/100 Grammar/Reading: 78/200…

  • Alone at work for Christmas

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    w00kie
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    It’s christmas day and I’m at the office, working… Actually, it’s nothing unusual for Japan where the 25th is a day like any other day. But this year is special: you should know that I work for a big French automotive parts manufacturer, and this is not a very fun time for us. Car production…

  • JLPT Level 2

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    w00kie
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    I took the test last Sunday at Surugadai University in Hanno, way out at the feet of the mountains west of Tokyo. Usually I’m assigned to Saitama Daigaku which is 10min of taxi from my new place, but I guess this year they thought I was too close and needed to suffer a bit more…

  • Why do Japanese octopus wear headbands?

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    w00kie
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    I’ve been wondering about this for a long time: why are たこ always represented wearing 鉢巻? I mean, I understand the mouth, but where does the headband come from? Is it because hachimaki is a symbol of hard workers and the tako with its 8 “arms” must be good at multi-tasking? Photo courtesy of kamoda

  • Train accident on my way to work

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    w00kie
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    This morning, on my way to work, my train stopped one express station after mine. Some accident had happened on the line and the traffic was stopped for 2-3 hours. No way I could get to work, and once the train would start running again there’d be no bus left to bring me from the…

  • U.S. Elections impact on Japan

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    w00kie
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    I don’t know if we will see any real difference here with Democrats instead of Republicans at the helm over there. All I know is this made me laugh right after lunch. A friend of mine who works in a cargo ship brokering firm forwarded me a market report written by another broker: Following the…

  • 3-day weekend in Karuizawa

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    w00kie
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    I spent last weekend, which was a 3-day holiday with 文化の日 on monday, in 軽井沢, which could be compared to the Gstaad or Courchevel of Japan. Of course, it’s a pretty far-fetched comparison: the ski-station could barely be called a hill, but anyways that’s where all the rich CEO’s buy fabulous chalets and come chill…

  • Lonely Shoe

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    w00kie
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    Coming back from work I found a lonely shoe left in the middle of the sidewalk in front of a pachinko outside my train station. Girls walking by would shout out 「ええっ！気持ち悪い！」

  • Prime Ministers of Japan

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    w00kie
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    Junichiro Koizumi – 小泉 純一郎 – 2001 to 2006 – grandfather was Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Shinzo Abe – 安倍 晋三 – 2006 to 2007 – grandfather was Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda – 福田 康夫 ,– 2007 to 2008 – father was Prime Minister Taro Aso – 麻生 太郎 – soon to be sworn…

  • On the road to Hokkaido

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    w00kie
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    My good friend Jon, who is clearly superhuman, was until 3 weeks ago working at Valeo on the desk in front of me. He is now between jobs taking a sabbatical and, since he can’t stay idle too long, has started a great journey from Saitama to Hokkaido… on a bicycle. He will be twittering…