aeho11 comments

Well, fish from highly contaminated areas has been banned for a long time. I think the professor refers to places that have low radiation doses but people refrain from buying it nevertheless.

according to news, the guy was repeated this horrible crime about 8 times now... at times using BBQ sauce, at times jelly....

Chicago

There's a poster on my train of a guy advertising a radiation detector (with a huge smile), now there's a phone with an attached detector....and everyone is talking about it as if its just another thing on the market...the normalcy about it scares me the most.

While I think it's common sense that having children in your 20s is less risky than having them later for a number of factors, I think that the original publication by Shukan Bunshun is pure propaganda. After it was announced that Japan's population will pretty much go gray by 2050, cheap media is doing its best to 'alarm' women that if they don't start having children earlier, they might be in danger. One of the key reasons is that -- based on their logic -- if you have your first child in your 20s you're more likely to have more in your lifetime, while having your first in your late 30s or 40s may leave you with only one, thereby less kids overall. That's a typical Japanese way of handling social issues. What the gov't and very much the media too forget is that adding pressure on women can only affect their fertility at any age. If they want women to have more children they should start talking about increasing day care, welfare assistance, and why not even cut infertility treatment costs? There are so many couples who try to conceive for years and they go bankrupt. One in vitro try costs 300,000 yen at the cheapest....As to what Noda saying "No one ever told me that having a child after 40 could be difficult," I find that a pure nonsense. As others said, an intelligent, educated woman, who has been battling infertility for years, simply can't say something like that. I guess it was taken out of the context -- again, something tabloids like and often do.

zichi It was on TV this morning - channel 4. They asked people from the affected areas to write them, saying what they need most at the moment. most of them said "we need the debris to be removed faster." many also said that they feel "extremely sad" that many prefectures have refused to cooperate with the issue. so the channel did a follow-up on the case and you could see the reporter walking between 3 to 4-meter-high piles of debris stored at bunch of places in miyagi and iwate. they also reported on the radiation issue, which seems to be most people's concern, saying they screened the debris and they were safe. I can't tell you how much they checked exactly, but is this really the case? Do you think that people would accept them even if every timbre was checked with full reports submitted??? Donald Keene said it the other day: "people no longer feel they have to sacrifice their own comfort for the people in Tohoku." I have exactly the same feeling.

the debris from miyagi and iwate have already been screened for radiation -- there's none.

zichi

totally agree. but part of this is because most prefectures are unwilling to accept the debris and -- as you say -- there's no reconstruction plan that will make them accept them. while it's true that there are vast areas of cleared land, it's also true that less than 7% of the debris have been cleared out -- one year later. The rest 93% stay untouched -- well, stored in 3-4-meter piles along the streets. So far, only Tokyo, several municipalities in Aomori and Yamanashi have accepted debris so far. Shame on the rest.

If the debris are not removed, reconstruction of the areas can not even begin. It's that simple. I'm sick and tired of everyone talking of kizuna and then refusing to accept part of the debris. People who live there pass by everyday and are constantly reminded of the horror of 3.11. Noda hasn't made this compulsory, but my opinion is he should. If all of it could be stored in Miyagi and the other two pref., believe me, it already would have been processed. They try to clean the areas to secure capacity to rebuild the cities. Without moving away the rubble that's impossible. I don't mind them burring some in my yard, for Christ's sake.

reading the comments on youtube it doesn't seem it's that popular among people...but could be only me, don't know.

I was wondering when they'll announce that she's pregnant. By Japanese standards getting married in 2010 and having a baby in 2012 is "late." Wishing them much happiness!! At least they got the right order...

Reminds me of Britney Spears in Oops I Did It Again...　

I may be mistaken, but most of Britney's fans were elementary school students or teenagers, mostly girls. As to AKB48, most of their fans are grown up men. I have one 60-something old JP colleague who proudly says how he sings their songs everytime he goes karaoke...

I don't get why her look in this photo is considered sexy. She looks like a little girl wearing bikini....

Taking responsibility by getting married? talk of responsibility before making a baby without having any plans about it. I've seen so many couples getting married over this, just because it's a social embarrassment not to, not because they are "responsible adults." Anyways, I hope Wakatsuki will have a great marriage life and will become a great mother! She seems nice and smarter than most talento I've heard on TV.

Another silly kid name from celebrities.. can't they think future tense.. the kid will be teased so much in school, later in life..

Being Jay-Z and Beyonce's child, I doubt she'll be teased even if she was called Billy Jean... ;)

Everyone seems to complain that Gaga is a Madonna copy. So what? She's in her mid-twenties and has managed to do more than people do in their entire lives. Even if she's a copy, she's a damn good one that's well accepted by fans across the world. It takes some guts to do what she does and I applaud her for everything she stands for. Angry people keep finding flaws in all other people just to justify their own existence. Chill, people. Put all that anger in the past and focus on your own growth in 2012.

So much for "equality" in same-sex marriages, US, the land of freedom. ....

So sad news...It doesn't matter how old one is, the passing of a parent is always a devastating experience. 48 is way too young though....I hope Mao will not retire from skating despite her sadness, because I'm sure her mom would want her to continue....

Unbelievable... If they depict Ichihashi as the the guy from "Akunin" the director should be put in the same cell as Ichihashi and be left there for some years to rethink his ideas of making money...

Love the title, JT! Smart!

This photo is amazing.....

Five boys, one girl. Says a lot about who dominates the society (and certainly, not only in Japan..)

Mike, you remind me of two guys I know. One is about to get divorced, the other never had (and never will) have a girlfriend. There are countless ways you can enjoy dating in Japan, ending up in izakaya everytime just speaks bad of your relationship. Camping, one day trips, skiing in winter, momiji in Fall, museums, exhibitions, theme parks, regular parks, boats, cruising, etc, etc... Like cleo said - do your research and stop complaining.

I always felt that the huge influence big names like Shimada Shinske and Wada Akiko, etc.have in the geinokai makes it difficult for young comedians and stars to make a succesful career. It's like if the big names don't approve of them there's no way they can succeed (or be original and do something different than the typical silly jokes on TV). So I'm glad this guy's out. Hope he doesn't come back and I also hope this will clear the path for more original and independent-thinking comedians/talento who won't feel they need to be 100% approved by the Shimada/Wada gang in order to find their own place in the business.

It's painful to read about this issue on and on and on. I totally agree that the writer is taking this issue far too seriously. It's obvious that he thinks only from his perspective - 'she uses me', 'isn't my Japanese good enough'...I bet Mike never imagined how Yuko felt after receiving his message - 'can we speak in Japanese?' - if I were her I'd feel totally used. As others said: you could've stayed cool and write a few sentences in English complimenting her on how much she has learned and move on with the rest of the message in Japanese. That would've been fair to both of you - accept it, you're not the center of the universe and your friends shouldn't feel like they should play only on your terms if they want to keep your friendship.

What actually happened is that they failed to replace the pre-written text with the winners' names and broadcasted it as it was: "And the winner of 10kg suspicious rice is Mr. Cesium, The winner of poluted rice is Mrs. Cesium' etc. You can see the video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqoUxKIb0us Check it out!

The police asked for life sentense and Ichihashi got exactly that. That was the highest punishment he could get, so I don't see why some of you blame the Japanese system. In 10 years he'll be eligible for parole but this is just a formality like some others mentioned. Doesn't mean he'll get it and I strongly doubt he will.

cleo - although I understand what you're trying to say I think you're missing the point that some people are just not in that state of mind to 'stop and think'. Obviously you've never dealt with that and I sincerely hope you will never have to, but you gotta try to imagine that there are worlds out there different from yours. Having said that I still agree that public suicide is not and should not be acceptable. All trains should be like Namboku line - no stress there.

We don't know anything about her life I sort of agree that we don't have to critise her...But this happened to my husband many years ago - the guy standing next to him suddently approached the train as it was about to stop and the train hit him in the head. the guy then got stuck between the platform and the train and it was a huge mess, he said. the point is that he couldn't sleep for a couple of days and said he couldn't get the sound of the train hitting the guy's head out of his mind..he still sometimes speaks about it. Then, it sort of happened to me as well as I was waiting for Keio line - a girl and her mom were sitting on the bench and as the train approached the girl tried to jump. Her mom went crazy, started shouting...fortunately she stopped her, grabbed her hand and took her away. But having witnessed that (note that nothing happened) I felt really sick. It was an awful experience. So, after that experience I'm not so keen on excusing those people. I know they are not in their normal state of mind, but still, if one wants to end his/her life it's better to do it quietly and away from people's eyes. Other people after all have nothing to do with their grief.

Hmmm...gotta agree with the others. contributing articles 'sometimes' for no pay is one thing, but 2 to 4 per month .... that's a lot of time investment and people's time's not for free...