Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto has told city executives via email that he will not authorize the promotion of any municipal worker who fails to respond to a survey asking if they have tattoos, sources said Tuesday. Hashimoto told reporters that the survey is “necessary for labor affairs management. If someone does not publicly follow the order (to reply), there’s no need for me to promote them.”
The survey, conducted between May 1 and 10,
covered around 33,000 employees, excluding those working for the board of education. The tattoo survey was carried out at the request of Hashimoto, who was infuriated by revelations in March that a worker at a children’s home threatened kids by showing his tattoos.
"Citizens feel uneasy or intimidated if they see tattoos (on workers) in services, and it undermines trust in the city," Hashimoto said earlier. "We need to grasp what the (tattoo) situation is and reposition personnel."
The poll asked if employees have tattoos on their neck and above, on their arms or hands, and from their knees to the toes. Those with tattoos had to indicate their location and size. Workers were also asked to respond voluntarily if they have tattoos on parts of the body normally covered by clothing and when they got them — before or after they started working for the city.
— Wife writes of divorcing radiation-scared Ozawa —
The wife of Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa has divorced him, saying he fled Tokyo soon after the Fukushima nuclear crisis started last March out of fear of radiation, according to the weekly Shukan Bunshun, citing a letter it says she wrote to his supporters in November."Facing unprecedented catastrophe, politicians must be the first to stand up, but in fact Ozawa ran away with his secretaries
because of fear of radiation," states the letter allegedly by Kazuko Ozawa.The Shukan Bunshun website has an image of the first page of the 11-page handwritten letter, large and clear enough for its words to be read. The print magazine also has photos of the letter and its entire content in printed form, with a few names blacked out. A person in charge at Shukan Bunshun was not immediately available for comment. Calls to Ichiro Ozawa’s offices were unanswered."As I saw him abandon people in Iwate who have supported him a long time, I realized Ozawa is not a person good for Iwate and Japan. Therefore, I divorced him," the letter states. Iwate is Ichiro Ozawa’s home district.
-Learn expressions such as idioms and slang that is unique to culture, age, and business!
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Hiroko and Sam are talking about her uneasiness attending a dinner with several foreign clients. She is asking Sam for advice.
Hiroko:
Sam, can I pick your brain for a minute?
Sam:
Sure, what’s on your mind?
Hiroko:
It’s not brain surgury or anything but could you tell me what topics are usually discussed at business dinners with foreigners?
Sam:
It’s a walk in the park Hiroko. You should just get to know them on a personal level and keep business topics to a minimum.
Hiroko:
Well…. that’s the rub.. I have no idea what is appropriate or inappropriate topics and I am completely clueless as to how to start a conversation!
Sam:
What on earth do you mean?
Hiroko:
In Japanese culture, it is quite normal to discuss business related topics at dinner. However, I heard foreigners like to leave business at work and not talk about business outside the office.
Sam:
More often than not, you are right. Try to learn about them by asking personal questions.
Hiroko:
Should I ask them about their religion or political views?
Sam
Wow, you really like to jump into the deep end of the pool right away don’t you. These are touchy subjects depending on your relationship with them. I would recommend staying away from those.
Hiroko:
What questions would you suggest?
Sam:
Well, you could break the ice with a simple question as what they do in their free time or what they found interesting about visiting Japan. The key is to find common topic to discuss and followup with other questions.
Hiroko:
That is easier said than done! It seems so natural for you but I do not have the social communication skills needed to improvise in English.. I find it is difficult to talk to new people I meet for the first time even in Japanese.
Sam:
You will get the hang of it. I will be there to jump in should you need a lifesaver.
Hiroko:
"lifesaver", what does that mean?
Sam:
It means "help".. We are in for a long night aren’t we Hiroko…..
–This section will cover a broad range of different grammar rules and explanations to help you understand sentence structure and improve awareness of English grammar.
Check your understanding by selecting the correct answer below:　
Read each of the following of sentences and select the best answer. Print out this lesson plan and ask your teacher to assist you in understanding the grammar rules.
Subject – Verb Agreement
1
Anthony doesn’t usually (go / going/ went) to school on the weekends.
2
Could you please (remind / reminds/ reminding) me to pick up some milk at the store.
3
What time did you (woke / get / got) up this morning?
4
After (wake / woke/ waking) up, what did you do?
5
Are you looking forward to (visit / visiting/ visits) your parents this Summer?
6
Were you (sleep / slept / sleeping) when I called last night?
7
How (do you feeling / are you feeling / you are feeling) now? Better than before?
8
Hiroko ( burn / burned / was burning) her hand while she was cooking dinner.
9
This past weekend was boring. I (did / didn’t do / didn’t) anything.
10
Kim isn’t here. (She goes / She went / She gone) out.
Answers: 1. go 2. remind 3. get 4. waking 5. visiting 6. sleeping 7. are you feeling 8. burned 9. didn’t do 10. went
Moderate level exercises:
Read each of the following of sentences and write the correct form of the verb in the blanks. Print out this lesson plan and ask your teacher to assist you in understanding the grammar rules.
Directions: Write the correct form of the verb in parenthesis to fit with the sentence using either the present simple, present continuous, past simple, or past continuous.
1
We can go out now. It ________________ (not/rain) anymore.
2
When I ________________ (arrive) last night, Samantha ________________ (wait) for me in front of the ticket gates.
3
What ________________ (you/do) in your spare time? Do you have any hobbies?
4
How fast ________________ (the car/go) at the time of the accident?
5
Hiroaki usually ________________ (call) me on Fridays, but he ________________ (not/call) last Friday.
6
When I last saw you, you ________________ (search) for a job. Have you ________________ (find) one yet?
7
Last night, the phone ________________(ring) three times while we ________________ (have) dinner.
8
When I first ________________ (tell) my mother about the news, she ________________ (not/believe) me. She ________________ (think) that I ________________ (joke).
9
Linda was busy when we ________________ (go) to see her yesterday.
10
I ________________ (see) Sue downtown yesterday, but she ________________ (not/see) me. She ________________ (look) the other way.
Answers: 1. is not raining 2. arrived, was waiting 3. do you 4. was the car going 5. calls, didn’t call 6. were looking, found 7. rang, were having 8. told, didn’t believe, thought, was joking 9. went 10. saw, didn’t see, was looking
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NEW! – Do you think Hashimoto was "justified" in requiring Osaka public employees to take the survey?
æ–°ç€! – ？
(Sarah U.K. 28y.o. ): In my honest opinion, I believe the government should not have the right to require or force employees, public or otherwise, to fill out a questionaire to learn about personal details that do not affect job performance. If the government is trying to learn whether or not an employee is doing anything "illegal" according to the law, then that is a different story.
However, basing whether a person is promoted, demoted, or reassigned to another job solely on the fact of one refusing to answer a survey or having a tattoo is in itself an illegal act.
(Corey Australia 41y.o. ): I can understand the reasoning behind this mayor’s actions, however, I feel he is going overboard on an issue that needs to be understood and not blown out of proportion. I have a tattoo that I got during my surfing days when I was younger. It is not pretty big and is on my shoulder. However, to think that having this would someday come back to negatively affect my career is unbelievable.
Where do we draw the line? Just because other people "feel" threatened or uneasy about seeing a tattoo, do we punish everyone? What if people felt "afraid or threatened" of gay people or foreign people, do we make everyone take a survey explaining if they are gay or if they have foreign decent and punish them if they refuse to answer the survey?
(What do you think? : Discuss with your teacher and share your thoughts on whether or not they think employees should be subjected to such polls/surveys.)
