Japan is much more exciting. Better food, far more dynamic nightlife. If you have foreign currency, it can be as cheap at Taipei as the Yen is so low.
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Agreed. Hostage justice is a scary thing.
US Federal system is the same. Very high conviction rate, and plea bargain used as hostage justice. I suspect both justice systems are orchestrated by the same people.
How many defendants does the federal government successfully convict? Data published by the Pew Research Center in 2019 highlighted how federal prosecutors have a 99.6% conviction rate. To put those numbers in perspective, U.S. Attorneys filed 79,704 cases in 2018. Of those, only 320 resulted in acquittals.Apr 19, 2021
must have same feeling toward US justice system
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“In Japan, criminal suspects face severe abuses in pretrial detention. Authorities routinely strip them of their right to remain silent, interrogate them without a lawyer, coerce them to confess to crimes through repeated arrests, and deny them bail – resulting in detention for prolonged periods under constant surveillance in police stations. More than 99 percent of trials result in convictions.”
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US justice system is corrupt and unequal but at keast you can buy your way out of it unless they’re trying to make an example of you. See “Hunter Buden.”
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Sounds like us federal justice, at least for mere mortals.
1 - yep, no warm fuzzies there
2 - that said, you’re picking a subset of the crimes prosecuted in the US vs (I think) the overall rates in Japan
3 - I’m reading a 99.9% in Japan. That’s authoritarian dictator type numbers. Sorry, but I doubt any system is that correct.
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Alkonis’ supporters regularly . . .have criticized this system as a flawed “hostage” justice system that detains criminal suspects for long periods to coerce confessions.
Many justice systems have perverse incentives to make convictions. They do not care about innocence or guilt, nor do they care what harm a particular case may cause society or the person in question.
This is why courts are supposed to be impartial and neutral, why jury trial is so important, but in reality court and prosecutors are simply a part of a well oiled machine. Courts are not impartial and guilt was already determined when you were arrested.
It’s really just organized vigilante justice.
I majored in Asian Studies, studied Japanese, visited several parts of Japan and worked there professionally for a few years in my twenties. Then, I ended up marrying a Taiwanese man and living in Taiwan for a couple of years, also in my twenties. (I’m now much older, and have just returned to Taiwan after a long hiatus.) I have to say, in my twenties, both Japan and Taiwan were fantastic adventures, and when you fall in love with a person at that age, you really don’t care where you are. Now, in retrospect, in all honesty, I think I’d prefer Japan. Language proficiency aside, I feel Japan offers more variety of scenery and climate, and the big cities are less chaotic. You have the option of enjoying the four seasons. You can go north to Aomori or Hokkaido and ski. You can go south and enjoy a more tropical climate on the beach. The food is wonderful, as well as healthy. The architecture is beautiful, streets are clean, and there are comfortable and affordable suburbs that feel like suburbs rather than just urban sprawl. (By that, I mean there are actual houses with yards and such; that’s no so easy to find in Taiwan, at least around Taipei.) I drove a car in Japan. I’m afraid to do so in Taiwan. I will say Taiwanese women strike me as a lot more outspoken and maybe more modern than Japanese women in terms of their mannerisms and worldviews, but maybe that has changed since I’ve been there. Both countries have a lot to offer in terms of health care, public transit, natural beauty and friendly people. You’re going to have an amazing experience either way, so enjoy.
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I’ve heard that japanese work culture is essentially feudal. Perhaps English teachers are insulated from this but not elsewhere.
Is that true?
I’ve got no experience living in Japan, I’ve only visited once and loved it. I’d love to go there more often, the living standards are without doubt leagues ahead of Taiwan. The food is simply perfection and the environment is pristine.
The only thing that rubbed me the wrong was recently getting to know some Japanese people. Don’t get me wrong, nothing wrong with them. They are nice and polite but I really got the impression it would be hard to get along with them if living there. They seem quite easy to offend, uptight and nationalistic. I feel like they are hard to read too, I don’t know if they hate me or like me.
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I would say yes and yes. I worked in a government office in a rural setting. Very traditional. Each department was basically seated in long rows according to rank, and the foreigners (there were a handful of us) were situated somewhere towards the end of the line, just before the OL who served the tea. As a gaijin, even though I’m a woman, my foreign status trumped my femininity so I was never expected to prepare tea, much to the benefit of all involved. I was also not expected to clean up after the drinking parties like the other juniors were. And the drinking parties were many. The notion that your workmates are your second family was very true in my experience, for better or worse. After-hours socializing is a requirement if you really want to be part of the team. However, I knew that as a foreigner I could be excused and still tolerated. I think it’s better if you try to strike some sort of medium - join in just enough to please your boss but don’t even try keeping up with the locals unless you have some serious tolerance for booze. There was another American guy in my office who was a recovering alcoholic, so he did not join in the drinking parties, but unfortunately, this prevented him from ever really being integrated with the locals; they thought him very odd and avoided him. I was also expected to go on vacation with my colleagues a few times. This was not optional as far as I could tell; they took a little out of my salary to cover the trips. They were fun, actually; I liked me team, but if I were older and had a family, I probably would’ve resented it more.
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Ohh, I had a similar experience regarding gender roles. I actually found it quite liberating that my gender was “foreigner” and I wasn’t expected to do any “womanly” tasks. Yet, I felt that it must be very hard for Japanese women to put up with all the bullshit. In that regard, Taiwan respects women way more.
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The opinions here seem to be evenly split between Taiwan and Japan haha. Guess it really is just personal preference at the end of day.
I am lucky in the sense that I did an exchange in Japan, so I do have Japanese friends and may be able to better integrate myself because of that meaning I don’t have to worry as much about the “people” issues that posters have brought up.
Despite the actual Taiwan visa being very easy to obtain, I think I will stick to looking for jobs in Japan based off this thread (and thinking about what I’m looking for). Thanks everyone!
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You’re not gonna beat that deal. Having lived and worked in both places, I’d say Taipei. You can always visit Japan if you like - I do it every year. Partially so my language doesn’t evaporate but mainly because I like the vibe.
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Yea Taiwanese women often have very successful careers and are very bossy. Not sure how japanese women act when they are in management roles.
This is pretty rare.
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I find the residential areas of Japanese cities and towns to be bland architectural wastelands due to the disposable nature of Japanese housing.
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