ADK99 comments

This is all a bit silly, and lots of people here don't seem to understand how tax works.

Here's a simple example: Tanaka-san (or indeed Smith-san who is a resident here) wants to buy a computer. It costs 100,000 plus 10,000 consumption tax.

Student-san buys a computer. He pays 100,000. No tax. He can sell the computer to Tanaka-san for 105,000.

Another example: Akachan-honpo sells diapers, charging 10% tax. Student-san buys the same diapers in bulk. They're a non-perishable product, somewhat commodified, that Student-san can buy cheaper than anyone who is resident here, and sell locally.

Tourists don't do this because they aren't here for long enough (though they do take things home with them, hence the long lined at places like Akachan-honpo's duty free desk pre-covid). Students sometimes do, because they have a 6-month window to buy, and the whole of their visa to sell.

Can't blame them it is enterprising, but it is not in the spirit of the duty-free rules which are "no tax because we expect you will consume this overseas".

@Open-minded, the article does NOT say that they are selling at home at all, it just says "resell at higher prices".

The activity that they are trying to curtail is exactly as wtfjapan says: people buying here, tax-free, on the pretence that they will not be consuming the goods in Japan, then selling them to people in Japan.

I don't see what most posters are complaining about. There is no particular reason why someone is living here - and I think if you're a student here for 6 months plus then you ARE living here - should be exempt from the taxes the rest of us are paying.

@Good

Interesting poll, good thinking. In my company's case we usually have a fairly large one which includes customers and other key contacts (50 or so people). This year we're just having an unofficial (and 100% voluntary) one for the 7 staff. 5 are keen, 2 prefer not to. We're not asking the decliners why they don't want to join but my feeling is that 1 is covid-related and 1 just doesn't like that kind of event, which is completely fine.

My personal opinion is that in general bounenkai are very valuable IF there isn't a year-round expectation that people will drink with their colleagues. It's not unreasonable to HOPE that people will join a social activity once a year, especially if the company is paying and there is no pressure for people to get legless. The problem is that at some companies the bounenkai is the 100th (or more) occasion of the year when people are unofficially expected to drink with their colleagues. I can see why people might find that a grind.

However, as actors it seems ridiculous to expect them to be the experts-in-charge of firearms on set.

They're not, other people are employed specifically for that purpose despite what the experts on here who have never even set foot on a film set will tell you. Baldwin is a co-producer of the film so he is in the chain of responsibility though. We don't even actually know if it was a live or misfired blank round yet.

Well yes, that's exactly my point.

Those who are blaming Baldwin for not checking that the chamber was empty: I'm by no means an expert so may be missing something, but as far as I understand it "prop guns" are often intentionally not empty. A blank, for example, is still a round in the chamber.

Hence the designation of someone on set to be constantly present and responsible at all times for the condition of the guns.

There is doubtless a case to be made for him bearing some responsibility as producer for overall safety on set. However, as actors it seems ridiculous to expect them to be the experts-in-charge of firearms on set.

13.3 BILLION yen??

The concept isn't the problem, it's the lack of transparency about how and when the data is collected.

Some of these companies absolutely deceived their users in terms of how they were being tracked, especially when not even using their platform. I think I should have a reasonable expectation that a platform is not tracking my activity when I'm not using their platform, unless I have given them express permission to do so (and not through the medium of 50 page user agreements).

Given that the half-life of whichever of these bozos gets the job will be around 1-2 years, phrases like "I will eventually seek technologies such as...." seem somewhat redundant.

Great picture - I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been far more entertained and inspired by these Paralympics than the Olympics.

At first sight disqualifying someone with intellectual disabilities for arriving 3 minutes late for an event in a foreign country seems incredibly harsh. Wonder if there is more to this story that is being reported?

@Leighton Rutt

Looking at the Livestream of the Shibuya scramble crossing, it does not look like the Japanese people even think there is a problem. Just saying.

I just looked at your link and I'd estimate there are about a quarter of the normal crowd at 6pm on a weekday. I've been here for close to 20 years and can't recall seeing it so quiet.

Whilst I applaud the efforts, it is genuinely fascinating that SIXTY staffers are targeting only 540 jabs a day. That's about 9 per staffer, or around 1 jab per staff per hour.

I understand that not all of them are directly administering the vaccine, but come on!

I don't blame them - the scapegoating of bars and restaurants has been disgusting. It's completely unreasonable to ask one specific sector of the economy to make all of the sacrifices, whilst other sectors are allowed to carry on regardless.

I'm sure we all have a list of stories about this nonsense, but I personally know several Japanese companies who are bringing in staff specifically to have small group meetings which could easily be conducted by zoom; I know a university which insisted a teacher come to work after he called them and said "look, my wife and child are running fevers, the doctor wouldn't give them corona tests because they don't appear to be dying, but I think it might be better if I don't come in, what do you think?"; Fuji Rock is happening; the Olympics went ahead, albeit without crowds; lots of summer festivals and sports days are inexplicably going ahead; soccer and baseball have crowds.

As a society we either need to decide that we are ALL going to curb our activities, or that we are ALL going to be allowed to decide for ourselves. If I was a restaurant owner I would be furious.

Depends what you mean by "anti-vaxxer".

If we're talking about someone who has quietly decided that the vaccine is not for them, but is taking other sensible precautions then I don't have much of a problem with them. In most cases I think they are making a mistake, but that's their decision and it doesn't make them a bad person. We have to accept that a free society will never reach 100% consensus on anything.

However, when I read "anti-vaxxer" what I'm picturing is the fools who are spending their time trying to persuade other people to not get jabbed. They're largely doing this by spreading entirely unscientific nonsense, unfounded conspiracy theories, and outright lies. If you don't understand something - and they really don't - then STFU and stop trying to influence other people. Same goes for noisy anti-maskers. It's none of your business if other people choose to wear masks, nor is it any of your concern if private businesses choose to mandate masks on their premises. Stop your whining.

Whilst I agree with Omi's general sentiment, what on earth is the point in restricting the hours of grocery stores? I'll avoid restaurants if we're all going to do that, but if I'm eating at home then I'll be wanting to go to the grocery store, and the less crowded it is the better. This is the same nonsense that saw the geniuses in charge as JR to reduce the number of trains.

I'd separate it too - Olympics Sports Festival and Olympics Arts Festival. There's nothing at all wrong with gymnastics, synchronized swimming etc but they seem to belong in a different category.

Yes, but the public complacency is largely a response to government complacency (and incompetence).

@Euro Dude,

Whether you agree or disagree with the protestors, it is very evident that the increase in cases in Tokyo is NOTHING to do with an increase in testing! See yesterday's record breaking positives - 3,865 from just 12,000 tests.

Why would you sleep with your door unlocked??

(n.b. I'm not for a second suggesting that this diminishes the crime in any way, I just find it quite puzzling)

Seems to me that the recent unwillingness of more and more restaurants to comply is likely driven by a lack of solidarity from other businesses. I've said it here before - it is arguably reasonable to ask EVERYONE to make some sacrifices in order to contain a pandemic. However, it is completely unreasonable to ask only one sector of the economy to do it.

Had Japan Inc got its act together and ensured that sufficient numbers of office workers stayed home (say 50%) then we'd have relatively safe trains and relatively safe offices. There is no reason why the government couldn't have introduced punitive measures on companies who failed to comply - as they have with restaurants. Companies have now had a year and a half to work out how to do this, and largely haven't. So who can blame a restaurant who says "I've been doing my bit for ages - why should I keep closing when offices are open, cafes are open, shops are open, and the Olympics is on?"

It was public housing. I absolutely feel sorry for him, and it's a shame more sensitivity wasn't applied in the eviction process.

In the end though, public housing isn't really yours and if a decision is made that the space is better used for something else, for the greater public good, then that's they way it goes.

(Whether the Olympics is for the greater public good is, of course, very open to debate)

@bokudaToday

I hate the US immigration system as well, but a death of a detainee in the US would have tremendous consequences if ever happens.

Not sure if that is true - 21 people died in ICE custody in 2020, almost three times as many as in 2019. I didn't see any tremendous consequences.

The US rates itself at tier 1, which on the face of it seems faintly ridiculous given that human trafficking evidently is a significant issue there. It is worth pointing out though, that the rating is not based on how much trafficking is happening, it is about whether governments fully cooperate with the specific provisions of a specific US act. As these provisions have been written by the US, within a US cultural and political framework, it is kind of understandable that the US government is deemed to be complying. One might argue, for example, that the use of forced labour in the world's biggest prison population constitutes a form of human trafficking, especially given the perverse incentives to keep people locked up; you can bet your bottom dollar that this would not be considered a violation by the report.

@Laguna - because some people sleep in there, rather like a business hotel.

@Sandoval - I got my coupon and I think everyone in my ward (Sumida) got theirs. I know LOTS of people in other wards who don't have theirs yet though. LOTS.

Given the overblown costs and scandalous under-delivery of most government IT contracts (not only in Japan), I'm tempted to be on the minister's side here.

How depressing that it isn't only Jiminto politicians who are completely lacking in common sense and morality.

Because some people disapprove of pachinko and will use any excuse to point the finger at it. It was the same after the Tohoku disaster during the setsuden period - pachinko was the only business that people ever singled out for criticism for wasting electricity.

There was never any reason whatsoever to suspect that pachinko would be a likely venue for spreading covid - it is extremely easy to take appropriate precautions for a single-player game where the participants sit in one place for an extended period without interacting with others. You're surely far more likely to catch it from taking the train to your favorite parlour than from actually playing it. Meanwhile, restaurants have been open throughout (with varying restrictions) as have offices, gyms, department stores, sports venues etc etc. Simple scapegoating.

If people don't like pachinko they should campaign against it, not pretend that it's going to give you covid. I have no interest in playing it, but in the absence of legislation/enforcement to get rid of it, it's a legitimate business just like any other.

Ridiculous. They have all the tools they need to keep people at home if they want. They have managed to pretty much close down the restaurant industry without needing a constitutional amendment - all they did was declare an emergency and introduce fines for failing to comply. What they completely failed to do was introduce fines for other companies which failed to meet working-from-home targets.

We'd be sitting pretty if Japanese companies on average had switched to, say, 70% working from home - or even 30%. The trains would be comparatively empty, people would have had far fewer close contacts through being in offices etc. This could have been accomplished through the same mechanism as was used with restaurants.

It's ridiculous to expect a 20-year old kid to be the responsible adult in the room.

Whilst I think the Olympics ought to be postponed or canceled, this is a political/societal decision. The general political apathy of Japanese citizens is the main reason why the government is not heeding the 80% of people who don't want this to go ahead. For anyone who is upset at the athletes not taking a stand: I'm afraid this is YOUR fault, not theirs. Man the barricades if you feel strongly about it; make it clear to your local Jiminto representative that you will never vote for them again; make a donation to opposition parties. THEN you can complain about the athletes not taking a stand which, for them, would be an enormous sacrifice.