25years in Japan comments

I think Japan has heaps of money stashed away somewhere. They don't pay out much welfare for older people and those with disabilities like other countries. They don't have free public hospitals, try to collect pension payments from everyone including those without jobs, ( other countries fund pensions from the tax take ) import foods and place huge tarrifs on them, have taxes like income tax, consumption tax, car purchasing tax, (what is the difference between the two ? ) car weight tax, other taxes related to death and property etc, etc. As a consumption tax is a fair tax, with any increase, most other taxes should go. Especially income tax on people working on an hourly rate.

What I want to know is what they are supposed to certify. Paint ? , Interior ? engine ok ?, water leaks ?

I can't see it being related to actual safety as all checks would be taken when assembling items like brakes, steering etc. I mean, all parts are brand new.

Just like butter. JAPAN imports butter.

They don't need to use trees. Just grow hemp which is fast growing and　will grow in poor soil.

It was Henry ford that made car parts from hemp which was stronger than steel. Of course we all know that Hemp cultivating has been demonised. Hundred years ago, Hemp was used to make all sorts of products in Japan and overseas.

Sure it's not all the tourists coming to Japan to buy. They all go away with heaps.

I suppose there must have been beautiful little babies among them.

How does that protect your face ? It is the top half of the face that always gets sunburnt.

How ridiculous.

The problem in this country is non steady jobs and a shockingly low minimum wage where one is required to pay health insurance, citizen tax, survive on noodles and pay the pension tax. ( I call it a tax because it is not saved up for the person paying it )

On a past survey of OCED countries, Japan had the second to last lowest minimum wage. Places like Australia and New Zealand were the highest. No one in New Zealand has to pay for their government pension as it comes out of the tax take and there is a meaningful welfare system and accident compensation also. Although their GST (consumption tax ) is higher, food and other services are much cheaper than Japan.

Seems NZ with it's smaller population survives well. Japan is awash with money yet they return little back to the people who paid it in by way of taxes.

The only reason that they want women to work is because they think they will work for the low minimum wage and don't need to pay other benefits as related to real jobs.

How about just doing a deal with New Zealand for dairy products, cheese etc. The Gov. already imports NZ butter in large amounts but you won't find much of it in the shops. It just shows you that Japan needs to import dairy products and can't rely on it's own production. Remove the ridiculous tarrifs also- Hell, NZ takes thousands of Japanese used cars every year all tarrif or duty free. How about reciprocating.

I believe that NZ makes the best cheeses in the world. The variety you can buy there is amazing. You can buy 1 kilo of ordinary Edam cheese in NZ retail for around NZ$12. - less than 1000 yen. Go see what you have to pay for cheese in the Japanese supermarkets.

I bought a Japanese Camembert the other day and it was really good. I remarked that it tasted just as good as a NZ one. Was it really Japanese. I have bought Japanese labeled butter before and found hidden away in very small stamped writing, ( New Zealand )

So, which chicken brands are affected as some shops sell frozen chicken like Sadia brand.

Mr Trump is right. Too many regulations which are difficult to implement with the current technology and dreamed up by officials who have no expertise in these matters. However, there have been many inventions for very high fuel economy in the past that have been shut out of the market by deceit and even murders of the inventors of these technologies.

Perhaps the problem is that car manufacturers can't meet the requirements by the officials who sit behind desks dreaming up pollution and mileage targets which are difficult to meet.

When they pay decent wages they will get more workers.

I miss my NZ crumbed Lamb chops. The price for Lamb chops in this country is ridiculous so I do not buy. Plus, they are too small.

I thought that if people earned more that they would spend more regardless of any special day. Things like electric power, gas, rent, food, pension, health insurance, and if lucky, a car for transport.

By reading the other alternative news sites.

Do people still believe that Russia messed with USA elections ? Proof that they didn't came out long ago. Whoo !, Putin can't be trusted? He was KGB once, wow he must be bad. Never mind anyone that was in the CIA or the Mi5.

The only deflated prices are supermarket items all discounted heavily at around 7pm at night because they can't sell. Best time to buy later at night to get cheaper food. A couple of years ago, you would never see bargain bins at stores. Another commenter said that items are being packaged smaller. I have Nescafe coffee jars from a few years ago which held much more than current jars at around the same price.

People can't spend money when they don't have it. Wages are far too low for most workers. Needs to be around 1,500 yen per hour. Latest statistics on electricity charges around the world show Japan as second highest to Australia. But, people are also on gas as well whilst some other countries use electricity only. Add the cost of gas and electricity in Japan and see how much your energy bill is. Just an added note- Australia wages are higher than Japan. New Zealand minimum wage is also higher than Japan, yet energy prices are one of the lowest in the world. .

The great wall of China is much longer.

MsDeliciousJan. 26, 2017 - 03:24PM JST

I heat with electric. Cost is about ¥6000 a month.---------------------------------

Is that for one Kotatsu or 2 ?

Suitcase etc. outside the door. Perhaps they had been evicted from their apartment.

Fight for our values? What values ?

You can't spend it if you haven't got it. That wouldn't help all those people working on Japan's minimum wage at all. These people need to work more hours to even survive.

I have been taking vitamin D3 5000mg a day for years and it has cleared up various problems that lingered for years. It must be D3, not ordinary D or D2 which is synthetic.

Leave the US out of it and it will be fine. Go with the original architects of TPP, Australia, New Zealand etc. I always thought that free trade applied to the exchange of goods between countries.

Aly Rustom said-- The only way Japan is going to itself out of this mess is by raising the minimum wage and by seriously curbing overtime. Clinton and Sanders talked about a $15 minimum wage. Well how about a 1500 yen minimum wage law here? Spending would increase and if you cut the number of hours people have to work, they will actually go out, have fun, and spend money.

Absolutely correct. People here don't have enough earnings with many working part time and jobs with nil benefits of any sort. The minimum wage must increase and all these employment brokers find work elsewhere. Japan is around second to lowest minimum wage out of all OECD countries surveyed.------------------------------------------------------------

The government is desperate to collect pension payments and employ companies to hound the public to make the payments. Of course it is impossible for so many people to pay as they barely can make ends meet as it is. Don't politicians have the brains to see that there is a better chance of collecting the payments if the minimum wage is raised a reasonable amount. A wage rise can only benefit the government through extra tax and more money spent internally is good for everyone, even if it means some price increases in certain retail fields.

Other countries fund the pension through the normal tax take- but that is another story which I hope will end in some serious discussion one day.

Obama birth certificate produced has places and names not used in 1961.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYPXmUdTYxw