Todai and Tokyo are the same University so I think you're a little confused, Todai is just short for TOkyo DAIgaku (university). I'm assuming the third Japanese university you're talking about is Waseda. I studied my undergrad degree there and I can tell you the Japanese (or most East Asian) school systems are not as great as you're making them out to be. Japanese students have a real problem with critical thinking, something that American K-12 does quite well. In Japan students, from a very young age, are mostly taught how to memorize and take tests. That's what mostly gets you in to universities.

Once in University (even Todai and Waseda) students don't really need to attend classes and I found that in general the standard of critical assessment was well below American, Australian and New Zealand University standards (I've studied a little at each also).

But those kids today! And the schools! So much worse than when I was a kid! Get off my lawn! Wargle gargle!

I think I have a complicated view of the entire copyright idea (shorter time frames with stronger enforcement is my preference I think) but here in New Zealand we have a very difficult time maintaining our local film and television industry and piracy can have a much stronger impact than in the states. Recently the film "Boy" (which is fantastic and very very local in style) has had some trouble because it's already being pirated before it has even had a chance to be released internationally. It's not like the producers wouldn't like it to have a large international release on the same day or something like that but it's just not an option with our small industry. Here's some more info on it:

http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/boy-illegally-uploaded-internet-3606531

Okay, how about this. In 2003 I moved to New Zealand. I had the same weight lift off my shoulders as I realized that I was no longer trapped in my job because of health insurance, and I no longer feared illnesses ruining my life or the lives of those I loved.

Plus, I get to live in New Zealand now.

Although I'm sure Douglas Adams would be a somewhat happy with this development as it moves us in the right direction I think the thing that pissed him off the most was all the different electrical socket plugs the world has. There should be a standard 110-120v plug (probably go with North American) and a standard 220-240v plug (one that can fold in easily), and then a symbol that can be etched in to either plug to signal that the device supports being plugged in to either voltage. This would go a long ways for manufacturing costs and simplifying things for world travelers. Plus it would make Douglas Adams very very happy, whichever planet he's on.

Same in New Zealand. There was a time when the NZ$ was at 80 cents to the American dollar. CDs, software and books never went down, consumer goods stayed mostly the same. You think with a stronger dollar we'd have more buying power but it was less. The down side is that when us small countries have our currency value get raised it becomes a negative because our exports become more expensive in other countries. It's kind of a double whammy, nothing's cheaper but it's harder to sell our own stuff.

Yep, there are a few people like this everywhere in the world. But in New Zealand this guy is in a very small minority.

Does he think that he wins over anyone with the rhetoric he uses? He's so vehement I had to wipe his spittle off the back side of my monitor.

Don't feed the troll. By American Republicans' definitions New Zealand would be a communist state. We have 12% GST on everything, we have a forced accident insurance that removes many rights to sue, we have universal health care, we have strong regulations of everything from finance to farming, we have no GE, the current "conservative" party is in power by the slimmest of majorities and only won by running on nearly all of the same policies that their "communist" predecessors enacted. They've also done some incredibly unpopular things with the current Auckland election reforms, betraying their base, and will likely be voted out in two years time. New Zealand is on the left by American and UK standards and this guy comes in screeching about Obama worshippers and communism so you know to dismiss his opinions, the facts don't support him.

You throw around socialism rather quickly. Labour, the party that has been in power over the past 9 years until the recent election could only barely be considered socialist. National party managed to win mostly from a "it's now our turn" campaign and if they try to undo many of Labour's policies they'll be out next election.

I've never heard anyone refer to democracy as an unfortunate circumstance and I doubt the original poster has any desire to live in a non-Democratic nation as those have a tendency to have the least amount of privacy or freedoms.

Most New Zealanders value their current "socialist" health care system, zero fault insurance, and employee protections. Most New Zealanders are incredibly supportive of Obama's election and hated Bush. The way you throw around "socialism/communism/totalitarianism" I'm surprised you didn't equate us to Stalinist Russia.

One of the down sides of New Zealand's current parliament structure is that whatever party collation manages to gain power they can essentially pass every single piece of legislation they want as parliament members are selected by party leaders based on loyalty rather than individual states based on local representation.

Yeah, it's not New York or Sydney or San Francisco but it's more diverse than most US cities and, as it's the center city for an entire nation it's much more than what it's size would suggest. It's frequently rated within the top 5 cities in the world to live in. That says something.

I disagree with that. Auckland is incredibly metropolitan and diverse. No rural town I've ever lived in had the diversity of Auckland, nor were they on some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. That said if you're going to be living anywhere but Auckland or Wellington you'll be in a rural setting with maybe even limited internet access and a lot less diversity.

I'm an American that emigrated to New Zealand about 4 years ago and I might be able to share some insight from my experience. When you're choosing a country to emigrate to there are a lot of different aspects to take in to consideration and if you get hung up on just one, like privacy, civil liberties, language, environment or standard of living you're unlikely to be happy after the mood.

When I meet new immigrants that don't take in to consideration a wide variety of factors in deciding whether or not a country is right for them they inevitably end up disappointed. Emigrating is huge emotional and financial commitment so I'd recommend spending an extended period of time in the country, either on a work visa or studying. On top of that the amount of paperwork to immigrate to any country is crazy unless, even for just a work visa. If you do settle for a long term work visa there's always the unsettling feeling that you can't truly lay down roots in a country which can be stressful.

If you're considering particularly New Zealand (I don't know if you are but we get a large number of poms coming over here) there are some specifics to think of:

-We're small so if you like big cities our biggest is pretty small by most country's standards.
-Internet and technology is expensive here. Our iPhone plans (just as for comparison) on Vodafone are the most expensive in the world
-We are a multicultural society, Maoris, Europeans, Asians and many others call this country home, if you're intolerant you'll have a hard time here
-Wages are lower here and taxes are higher, you get a lot for it, including a good health care system and a no-fault society accident coverage, but you're disposable income will probably be less then what you make for the same work in other countries
-New Zealand is a long ways away from other countries, it's expensive to get anywhere from her

Things are nice here and I love it. I don't regret it at all. If you're interested in learning more about New Zealand immigration check out http://www.emigratenz.org/ and http://www.immigration.govt.nz/ It'd probably also be advisable to speak to an immigration lawyer, but unless you've got the extra cash, you can definitely do all the paperwork on your own.