375sensei comments

The Shuka Bunshun reported members monthly earning is only 1,200 USD. A former member of the AKB talent agency was quoted as saying: "“Though I can’t reveal a precise number, it’s to be expected if they’re that young, they only earn as much as normal office ladies do, or even less than them.

I wonder how much the full-time members get? 2,000 yen per hour? Generally Japanese talento are controlled tightly by their management companies who get the lion share of the wealth.

This could be the last straw (or ramen) for Skymark!

Oh, the irony !!! Due to the late hour of the offense, will his defense be that he was drunk? He and his high flying Smartphone will both be grounded.

Celebrity advertising is taken to absurd lengths in this country with over 40% of advertising using some kind of local, national or international celebrity. Contrast this with around a 10% figure in both the US and UK. http://www.millwardbrown.com/docs/default-source/insight-documents/knowledge-points/MillwardBrown_KnowledgePoint_Celebrity-basedCampaigns.pdf

I only hope Ueto Aya ( the most "frequently" used talent) is getting rewarded handsomely for her over saturation on our screens.

Crush Them, if I've understood the jist of what you've written, your point is that over the years Japanese women have become "colder" and less receptive to men's advances and some men have resorted to stalking women after having been rejected so often. Are you saying part of the blame lies with, as you put it, these "Japanese women who just seem to get colder and more unfriendly with each passing day:" Fact is, if these men are not mature enough to interact normally with the opposite sex or deal with rejection in an adult fashion then they need to get professional help.

Coupled with the long unproductive work hours, drinking sessions with the boss and customers, higher levels of drinking and smoking, little exercise and poor eating and sleeping habits. All contribute to the lower life expectancy of Japanese men.

In the past, women here in Japan would just "gaman" and suffer in silence but the increasing number of people coming forward will empower even more to report these cases. Life is just too short to let these gutless bullies get away with these crimes unpunished.

Then why does the government still continue to allow smoking in restaurants and bars? Fear of declining tax revenue? Surely, if the majority of adults do not smoke then the shrinking minority who do should not be allowed to affect our dining and drinking pleasure. The non-smoking areas in many places are a joke with little or no discernible separation between the areas. Time for a complete ban to come into effect before the 2020 Olympics.

Glad to see a Japanese person recognize that the cycling manner in Tokyo, and in the rest of Japan for that matter, wouldn't be tolerated in other countries. There are laws in place here but they are misunderstood or ignored by many and poorly enforced by the J-Police. Mums transporting 2 kids on the one bicycle, people riding on the wrong side of the road towards on-coming traffic. It's a wonder not more people are injured.

I wonder what kind of in-flight service he'll receive when he eventually flies back to Japan. He must now be on the black list of Delta Airlines so another airline will have the "pleasure" of transporting him back to Japan. He should be forced to return on a slow freight ship as further punishment

-"The suspect also told police that she bought the tools she used to kill Matsuo a few days prior to the attack."

Clear premeditation and .............

-"A 16-year-old high school girl who was arrested Sunday for the grisly murder of her 15-year-old classmate in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, told police on Monday that she wanted to see what it was like to kill someone."

................a complete lack of empathy or remorse for her victim. Psych 101 tells me she is a sociopath. I hope they don't give her 5 years in a psych ward then release back into society. These people just can't be rehabilitated.

"High School coaches in Japan will argue if the core mechanics are good then a pitcher won’t hurt his arm throwing every day"

Unfortunately, medical science disagrees with this opinion. As was stated in an article on the website FanGraphs, "pitching is an unnatural movement that puts unnatural stress on the elbow and shoulder joints." Anatomically, the shoulder joint is not made for throwing overhead regardless of whether the mechanics are good or not. The old conventional wisdom of Japanese baseball coaches insisting on daily throwing sessions and "gutting it out" just flies in the face of science. Time for these people to get their heads out of the sand.

If the rules are perceived to be petty, often due to a lack of regular enforcement or peer pressure (take the bicycles rules as another example), then people will just completely ignore them. The "gray" area that pervades many aspects of life in Japan further contributes to this.

Kirin is indicative of many once proud Japanese companies, such as Panasonic and Sharp, who have been slow to adapt to ever changing domestic and international ,markets. "You snooze, you lose! "

With the high pitching counts he had to endure at High School ( he threw 742 pitches in 6 games in the 2006 Summer HS tournament) and in the Japanese professional leagues (he threw 160+ pitches in the penultimate game of the Japan Series and returned the next day in relief!!) the wear and tear on his elbow and subsequent injury were almost inevitable. Japanese coaches still persist with overly lengthy training regimes and leave their pitchers in games for too long. It's Tanaka's previous coaches and managers, like Senichi Hoshino, who should be the ones apologizing to the Yankees and their fans.

Good luck with the expansion plan! The challenge of where to position it in the market will be interesting. It's "chic" basics (gotta laugh at that description) falls somewhere between Old Navy and GAP. The other major challenge of sizing can be done by checking it's US flagship stores on the East and West Coasts to see how the sizes have fared although the middle of the country does tend to have a bigger "middle".

Obviously, these kind of things are based largely on image. It would be interesting to get feedback from their children to see if this was actually true or not.

Virtually no one slows down for the yellow light here. It's more of an invitation to speed up to get through the intersection for most drivers. And the number of people who continue to go through even when the light is red still amazes me. Without traffic light cameras to deter people, it will just continue

What is with these jilted guys who feel they have to take retribution out on their exes??!! I thought the saying was "Hell hath no fury like a WOMAN scorned", not "Hell hath no fury like an IMMATURE VINDICTIVE WUSS who can't handle being rejected by his girlfriend."

I have to agree with Dutchduck. Mao's performance lacked flair or that "je na sais quoi" that the other top skaters seemed to have. Combine that with a mental frailty and she seemed to lack any overall conviction with her programme. The Olympics are tough and the competition deep with new skaters arriving on the scene all the time. If you don't have your "A" game then it's very difficult to medal. Let's hope she has a more inspired free skate.

An undeniable infringement of her human rights and privacy. If the tattoos don't impair her ability to do her job then what is the problem? I agree with Yardley that the anonymous caller who made the complaint should have left her name. It showed a lack of guts. And now the clerk has agreed to have the tattoos removed. I wonder if she was threatened with further cuts in pay or even dismissal. A clear case of bullying from upper management.

Glad to see a well written piece that hits the mark with insightful observations! These concerns have long been held about Japanese television. The fact that we now have the internet as well as access to other entertainment options from overseas just highlights these problems even more.The over-saturation of certain celebrities, tarento and idols, coupled with limited programming just makes viewing a constant "deja vu" experience. The fact that networks have small budgets to work with exposes the amateurish nature of many of the programmes, almost as if they were making it up as they were going along. At some point viewers are going to get tired of what's on offer and just tune out, something which may already be happening. Why eat the same food day in and out when there are so many other choices on offer?

Her show featured daring acrobatics, fantastic costumes, and even a fanciful stage battle.

These "features" are helpful in distracting the audience from her lack of vocal range and general singing ability. Definitely a visual artist rather than a singing one.

Every country puts their own slant on history and China and Japan are no exception. Any chance of objectivity gets lost in the need by each party to justify their actions. Winston Churchill once wrote: 'History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." In past Japanese history textbooks, Japan's invasion of South East Asia was termed "an adventurous sweep through Asia". This shows an example of how a country puts their own spin on history. What is needed to counter this is a full and open discussion on what really happened in history,free from recriminations. Obviously China does not allow this and Japan seems reluctant to embrace it.

I agree with Ranger_Miffy2 that there should be a ban on all indoor smoking here in Japan. The fact that smokers are now in the minority in Japan but are still able to affect the atmosphere and health of the majority "non-smokers" in places such as restaurants, bars, izakaiyas and coffee shops makes no sense. One of the main reasons may be the fact that the Japanese government owns a controlling interest in JT and is therefore reluctant to impose a ban that could lead to a reduction in profits and taxable income. Revenue over health....mmmmmm.....

But Japanese firms often fail to check if a name “travels” because of historical reasons, marketers say. “Japan really is an island nation, and was historically closed for a long time."

I don't buy this often trotted out excuse anymore. It may have had some validity before the internet was invented and some of the classic brand names such as "Calpis" and the milk powder "Creep" were dreamed up. All it takes now is for one marketing exec to do a Google search on the brand name they want to use and they can instantly see if it "travels" or not. With the world becoming so much more interconnected it makes more sense for even domestic markets, no matter how big, to think globally.

Small pedestrian crossings here in Japan can be a lottery at times. In this case things were exacerbated by the fact the light was poor and there were no traffic lights to direct the elderly couple to cross safely. This in no way mitigates the fact that the truck driver should have been more vigilant and stopped.

It also never ceases to amaze how very few drivers stop at pedestrian crossings that aren't controlled by traffic lights despite the law requiring them to do so. It boils down to the fact that a large majority of drivers, and for that matter cyclists, just don't want to stop unless they really have to.