BBC: “Japan was the future but it's stuck in the past”
Rupert Wingfield-Hayes has been a BBC journalist in Tokyo for 10 years. Before he left Japan he wrote an editorial to share his opinions on the current situation on Japan.
What agreeing and disagreeing phrases do you know?
Agreeing phrases:
Exactly = I agree completely = I totally agree (strong)
I agree = That’s true
I think so too = I feel the same way
I guess so = I suppose so (soft)
Disagreeing phrases:
No way = Are you serious? = What are you talking about? (strong)
I disagree
I don’t think so
softly disagree:
That’s not always true
I’m not sure if I agree = I don’t know about that
That’s a good point but_
I see where you’re coming from however_
“In Japan, houses are like cars.”
What do you think he means by this?
He wrote: “As soon as you move in, your new home is worth less than what you paid for it and after you've finished paying off your mortgage in 40 years, it is worth almost nothing.”
Do you agree?
mortgage = home loan “mor-gidj”
“For decades Japan has been struggling with a sluggish economy, held back by a deep resistance to change and a stubborn attachment to the past… Japan is stuck.”
sluggish = moves very slowly, has no energy
stubborn “stuh-bern” = never changes their mind
“Studio Ghibli makes the world's most enchanting animation (sorry, Disney)”
enchanting = very charming or attractive (almost magical)
“J-pop is awful, but Japan is undoubtedly a soft-power superpower.”
soft power = the culture (not military) is popular
hard power = military power
undoubtedly = definitely = without a doubt
“When Covid struck, Japan closed its borders. Even permanent foreign residents were excluded from returning. I called up the foreign ministry to ask why foreigners who'd spent decades in Japan, had homes and businesses here, were being treated like tourists. The response was blunt: "they are all foreigners."
- Do you think this rule was fair?
“A hundred and fifty years after it was forced to open its doors, Japan is still sceptical, even fearful of the outside world.”
Wingfield-Hayes used to work in North Korea until he was kicked out of the country. Why do you think North Korea kicked him out?
Doctors and journalists were given a tour of a couple of hospitals in North Korea. Does anything seem strange to you?
Wingfield-Hayes said the hospitals felt fake because none of the patients seemed sick and they never saw doctors treating patients
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63830490