DOMO AGRIGATO MISS ROBOTO

[Taro Toporific]

Robots on street may find road to recovery
It's a wonder no one thought of it before. Fukuoka, a city of 5m people in western Japan, believes it has come up with the perfect way to reactivate the country's lifeless economy - let robots loose on the streets.

...ready to test his company's Tmsuk 04 robot on the streets of Fukuoka the moment the central government granted permission. Robots such as Tmsuk 04, a life-sized model that follows the exact actions of a remote user, had the potential to take care of the aged, to help in rescue operations or to guard homes

And here she is, Tmsuk 04-chan...

[Gaisaradatsuraku!]

If the Japanese want to revive the economy they need to reign in the price of education. This is one area where the free market just does not work. The high cost encourages parents to have fewer children and it is the very people who should be encouraged to have children that reproduce the least.

Japan's economy is in part hostage to the tyranny of "education" and America is going down the same road. An economy doesn't grow well when its population of intelligent people declines.

GOOD GOD!

[canman]

It is unbelievable the cost of education in this country. Of course people aren't going to have children, when they must either choose to put little Taro through school, or buy a house. I was talking with one of my students last year who was preparing to enter Aoyama University about the costs. He told me that his sister was also attending Waseda, in her second year. We did a rough calculation, and for the two kids for four years of university, plus rent and all the other incidentals that go along with being a university student in Japan, we figured it would cost his dad 5 million yen per year, times four. So in effect what I borrowed to pay for my house, his father will pay out in four years for his kids university education. Now I don't know what it is like in the US, but I'm pretty darn sure, its a lot cheaper in Canada. I know that the prices have been going up for tuition, and such, but there is now way it is that high.
But it isn't just university, even the private high schools gouge the poor students. Here in Hachinohe, we don't have any prestigious private high schools, they are mostly used as a second choice if students fail to enter one of the better public high schools. But I was amazed that some charge up to and even more than 1 million yen. And the sad fact is most of the kids are just going to kill time, they don't study, they don't work hard, but Mom and Dad are still schilling out their hard earned yen. What ever happened to equal and accessible education for all.

[den4]

One way to get rid of the costs is to stop the stupid entrance exams they require in the schools, which do not place emphasis on any practical knowledge. When they want to give entrance exams just to get into pre-school in some places? give me a break....
And then there's the great reward of going through a primo university only to find out there are no jobs available after graduation.....seems like the education ministry is creating unnecessary pressure cooker scenario for the students, with unrealistic expectations on test scores just to advance to the next level....and yet when they graduate from their respective schools and universities they still cannot and do not have any abilities to survive out of the protected environment of their households....or the necessary skills to live outside their country....
Not that the US is much better with the "tunnel vision" that is apparent with the lack of interest in anything that doesn't appear on the MUST-SEE TV mentality.....
would be neat to see an actual radical reform go into place to clear out the Old Boys that have stagnated Japan, but when they can't even make a decision on their own, without intervention from Outside, I doubt the various ministries will be able to find their way out of a paper bag....
change is slow in Japan, and usually for the wrong reasons...
but that's life...

[Big Booger]

cool looking robot... reminds me of the maid from the Jetsons, Rosie!

BB

[Taro Toporific]