Japanese Immigration Update

Some good news for foreigners living in Japan (or soon hope to be living in Japan, Amen): a new Alien Registration System is coming which will make it easier for gaijin residents here. The new system has several new benefits, the most welcome being the elimination of the "reentry stamp" system, a $60 official stamp foreigners had to get in their passports if they wanted to be able to re-enter the country after going abroad, which was both inconvenient and potentially a big problem since it was easy to find yourself with an expired stamp suddenly. Since the problem of Japan's declining population is only going to get worse -- this year the number of "new adults" turning 20 years old was just 1.2 million, exactly half the peak of 2.4 million back in 1970 -- I believe the country should take real steps to encourage people to immigrate to Japan permanently. Just to be clear, I'm not knocking the treatment foreigners in Japan receive currently, as I know that gaijin have it better in Japan than foreigners in almost every other country. But making changes that make it easier for foreigners to live easily in Japan, like getting rid of that annoying re-entry stamp system, is a positive step forward in my book.


Other changes to this system our still on the table. One that I am familiar with is the problem of gaijin who would like to fully immigrate and because a Japanese Citizen but because of Japanese law you would have to renounce your current citizenship. Which so few Americans are willing to do. The other is their marriage registration system that foreigners do not show up on. If you marry an Japanese citizen you are not recognized as their spouse by the federal government only by your local government. This causes problems for parents that receive frequent visits from social services due to them thinking they are a single parent.

Child Like Heart

Something that seems to be a quite different with home schoolers is the fact we can be much more entertained with the simplest of things. I personally noticed this in my own self, I don't believe it makes us weird and neither can I say why others are not entertained by things like that. I remember when we were young we would play we the door stop on our back door several times over and laugh like mad. Our parents have always been amazed that the things we remember over other amazing trips we have taken in the past.

Door stops!, Entertaining home schoolers and elderly people since 19...? 18...? something...

Well, starting this year I have put the initial work into finally starting my own business. As some of you know I was contracting for someone last year installing March Network DVR in over 300 Dunkin Donuts across Chicago Land, USA. I had made many contacts, so now I have the opportunity to sell my service to a vast group of people. I have several people interested in my service and I hope to launch the second phase of my service starting February first. This is just a blurb but I want to post more about it in my next major update.

Only in America

1. Only in America......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
2. Only in America......are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.
3. Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
4. Only in America......do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
5. Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
6. Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
7. Only in America......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.
8. Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
9. Only in America.....do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.
10. Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
11. Only in America......can a homeless combat veteran live in a cardboard box and a draft dodger live in the White House. (This was popular when Clinton was in office)
12. Only in America......can you buy mulch and firewood at your local gas station.

Politics in Japan

Haruhi Suzumiya for President 2012

It's quite nice to not live in the U.S. when a Presidential election rolls around, because you can look forward to a peaceful year without being bombarded by a lot of negative political messages 24 hours a day. That's not to say Japanese elections are a walk in the park -- the primary method of getting people to vote for you involves driving around in a car shouting "I am Yamada! I will work hard for you! Please support me in the upcoming election!" through a loudspeaker from dawn til dusk -- but at least that part is over within a week or so.

Politics in Japan are fundamentally different from in the U.S., as they are probably are in every country. While the U.S. has a two-party political system with Republicans and Democrats, even tough it was not that way in the beginning, Japan has a number of active parties, including the current ruling Democratic Party of Japan, which is a lot more like the democratic party of President Kennedy then the version we have today (eh! hem!), which rode to power on a "manifesto" of promises like making expressways toll-free and paying every family $130 per child per month, most of which have been repealed quietly; the pro-business Liberal Democratic Party, which held power for nearly 50 years in postwar Japan; the New Komeito Party, once the official political arm of the Sokka Gakkai evangelical Buddhist religion; the Japan Communist Party, and so on. To be right-wing in Japanese politics means to be pro-Emperor as well as pro-Yasukuni (the controversial shrine where Japan's wartime leaders are interred, as well as the souls of all the normal souldiers who faught and died). Right-wingers famously drive around in loudspeaker trucks blasting songs from World War II, and sometimes (awesomely) the theme to Space Battleship Yamato (Sort of the Star Trek of Japan); they also lament Japan's weakened position in international politics and get very upset over territorial disputes with China, South Korea and Russia. Left-leaning Japanese dislike the Emperor and the Japanese national anthem Kimigayo, seen as a symbol of Japan's wartime aggression, and some educators have been fired for refusing to sing the song at official events. Left-wing Japanese are apt to be pro-China and critical of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty that has bound Japan and the U.S. militarily for the past half-century. So next time you get all upset over how messed up our country is think about Japan. For they have quite a more interesting struggle on their hands.

Happy New Year 2012

Happy New Years

As my family watched the remaining moments of 2011, My Mom and I thought of some interesting points about this world. Such as why people find that drinking them self's sick is seen as a celebration and why kissing someone (anyone, even strangers. Disclaimer: I am not promoting it.) on new years is not as much a big deal as it used to be. I opinion is this, first: people see drinking till the point that they have no sense of oneself is exactly the reason. There life is so messed up that being sick on alcohol is the only alternative to them. They need to know that Jesus is the one and only answer. Second: I think that when Satan pollutes something as beautiful as kissing or sex, we become desensitized to the uniqueness of it. Think of it, We humans are uniquely made by our creator. Did you know that there are several things that make us humans different of the rest of the animal world that not even monkeys or apes can do brains and biologically, But for the sake of length I will with hold this one. We just need to remember GOD is GOD and drinking sick or corruption by Satan is just an illusion of the big picture.

The End is Nigh!!

As many of my reads my not know, one of Japan's most popular singers is not even human but in fact a computer generated female persona. Her name is Miku Hatsune (Click for More Information) and shes the creation of Yamaha. She can sing at higher pitches than a typical know signing voice. Over the years with her increased popularity they decided to take her on tour around the world [Watch Her Concert on YouTube] as a hologram. But before all this some guy made a windows program called "Miku Miku Dance" which generates a homemade 3D video from 3D custom models which includes Miku Hatsune. Watch some of the videos on YouTube there quite interesting. Now the latest feature to come to MMD is an option to connect the Kinnect from the XBOX 360 to your computer and virtually control one of these characters with your movements. I've tried it and it is quite fun but now I can surely say "The End is Nigh" by artificial intelligence (programmed by people don't you forget!!!).