Jobs.CoolerThanThou.net - Working In Japan or China

Being a comedian in Japan isn't so easy

I don't think I could ever be a comedian in Japan. While it looks like a pretty awesome profession in the west (who wouldn't want to be Jerry Seinfeld or Dave Chapelle?), in Japan comedians are often the object of nothing less than torture. Candid camera pranks are a favorite with audiences, and more often than not the victim is a famous talent/comedian from television.

Take for example this particular prank, where a television personality is made to believe he's being arrested, when really he's going to be driven in a police car by a stunt man. Of course, as often happens in Japan, hilarity ensues soon after:

On your day off, you may want to avoid the beach

At least in Korea. And China's not much better for that matter. But check out these amazing pictures of a beach in Korea. I can't imagine going there on my days off from work. I'd prefer to hit up a playground and hang out in the sandbox.

Wouldn't you?

For more pictures, check out a day at the beach in Korea.

Urgent: Sign Translator Wanted

Ok, so nobody's actually advertising for a sign translator. But they should be . Check out the English on the bottom of this sign:

I feel lost already. This sign reminds me of one foreigner who was working in Beijing trying to clean up all the "Chinglish" in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. Looks like he missed at least one...
That must be a fun job to have though.

Check out Chinglish.de for more insane Chinese translations.

In Pictures: Overloaded China

On Friday I wrote about why you should be a little careful about working too hard and being too productive in Asia. I should explain that there are certainly exceptions to this rule, as the following pictures will show.

Here you can see that there are no shortage of people in China who try to do too much at once. If you have any photos to add, please link to them in the comments.

In China, Even Dogs are Put to Work

You know we're in tough economic times when even animals are being put to work. Check out this story from China about a dog who has found employment as a cell phone thief:

A man surnamed Huang who lives in Guangzhou’s Panyu District found a white dog in his home on Monday morning. Huang wasn’t concerned about how the dog had entered at first, and his daughter also wanted to play with it. But when the dog saw the cellphone that Huang had put on his tea table, it immediately took it into its mouth and ran off. Local police later told Huang the dog had been trained by thieves and was actually a “hardened criminal”.

I expect that this sort of thing will become more and more common as China is forced to gradually move away from child labor.  It's a big opportunity for the animal population in China, as there's a real vacuum being created in the Chinese job market as a result of these new child labor laws, not to mention when children are lost to adolescence.

When the dog was asked whether he felt bad about putting a child out of a job, he did not volunteer any comments.

Source: Weird Asia News

Japanese Elevator Floor Lady

Talk about a stressful job, this Japanese woman has to usher people into an elevator by announcing what floors it will be stopping at - and each time she does it with such enthusiasm!