aelieth comments

They're horrible, totally horrible. Cheap food made from cheap products with little nutritional value. My home was Oklahoma, third fattest in America. I saw what these fast food chains did to people and I do not want any part of it.

I'd take a meal cooked at home with love from the woman I adore very much with extra veggies over the greasy greedy fast food chains.

Just like most Japanese speak mangled English? The two languages are so different it's really hard to make a proper transition unless you really focus and try to.

Haha, Mr. James is a white and nerdy US guy. That's awesome. So, Japan is xenophobic of foreigners and has been for a while but I think it has and is becoming better. Isn't it good for them to be amused by a white, nerdy guy from the US? Or are they thinking that this will display all Americans as white and nerdy... this is really reminding me of a Weird Al song.

Furthermore, I hate McDonalds! Ahhh! If the Japanese should fear anything, it's McDonalds and other American fast food chains!

2016 Olympics in Japan would be perfect.

It will be interesting to see what Japan does in this decade. If the 90's were the lost decade 2010-2020 could be the make it or break it decade.

This is all rather pointless... and here I was thinking I was going to have a reason to actually use a Visa card over my others.

Emo hairstyle, bah, give me a break. Girls and guys have had that hairstyle since grunge back in the 90's. :-P Further back, let's go look at the 70's cuts.

He's doing his business and I think he should probably be out in the public eye in Japan more often.

All these people saying sad times, sad to see Japanese culture dying. I think you need to look at history, yeah, this is honestly sad but "culturally" Japanese moms have been selling their daughters for ages. Edo period was famous for prostitution. One of the cruelest forms of punishment has been sexual, especially forced by other men to really disgrace a girl.

I'm not trying to justify it, I'm simply trying to say that it is a problem but it isn't something new and shocking like so many take it. Even old forms of culture still exist. flammenwerfer is very correct, every society has its pond scum, we just get to hear about the pond scum most because they keep scraping the surface.

@biglittleman

Yeah, I agree with that and didn't dispute any of that in my post. Breast implants are becoming quite popular, and as you said, hair dye and other things too. Japanese girls may enjoy looking a little different sometimes, but the majority of American women are just... gah, poor America.

Trying not to get off topic here. :-P There are many cute Japanese ladies. I'm glad these ambassadors don't look too over the top. They represent more normal Japanese I think, and that's what an ambassador should do.

Tigris is right, it's selling and in a capitalist economy, you should try and sell, especially when the brand name is your country! Just don't go over the top is all. I for one am glad my woman is kawaii. She loves her Totoro and I don't mind my bathroom having the Totoro decor. I even walk around the house in fluffy snowmen slippers because she thinks they're so cute on me... don't tell anyone I said that. :-P

I love Japanese girls, especially mine. She's cute, but not as stupid as many of you seem to think of them. She has her degree, she works hard when it is time, but she loves to play and be cute as well! I don't mind the girls acting cute and silly, many of them do have a serious brain behind all the girlishness.

America couldn't do anything like this. All of our women and men are becoming fat blobs, many with no education. Japan has one thing up on many countries, their women still look good and can even afford and enjoy looking cute.

I'm so glad I'm running from America as fast as I can. :-P One more year until I get my MBA. Arrrggg, want to leave.

Healthcare in the US is total crap. Serious and total crap. I know friends denied coverage based on their "history." How is that not already "evil?" A friend of mine is 30 and has $25,000 of medical debt due to circumstances beyond her control. Insurance companies refuse to take her now because of these problems in her life and because she is high risk. She could pay a $1000 a month deductible but that's not going to help anything. Insurance can deny coverage, but the hospitals can't. Leaving the hospitals to pick up the tab, forcing insurance spikes so they can make profits off the people that do have insurance.

There morons fighting against it make me really angry. They could help and get their say in instead of fighting it tooth and nail. I'd be paying $350 a month if my workplace didn't cover my tab and I'm in great shape! Most the people I do work with are older and out of shape though, so the costs are averaged, I know my premium would only be about $150 a month if I shopped around. It's horrible, and shouldn't exist.

I look forward to photographing my pregnant wife! =D "This is what you looked like before you were born, a big lump in mommy!" Hahah, good times.

I think it's good the ladies are doing this.

Hahaha, sn00z3. I shaved mine last year and it was great! No shampoo, so true!

Hmm, a ceremony to become Buddhist monks, that's quite a few!

My cell phone is world capable, and I had to pay for that capability, $800 worth of it! Not an iPhone either. Nokia makes great phones for use around the world and I do have a couple of SIM cards I use in it and also have multiple languages installed. I text my girlfriend in Japanese, for free! Japanese phones use full e-mail addresses as their text messaging, so I have an e-mail account specifically for corresponding with others via e-mail instead of American SMS, though it can send and receive both.

To the contrary, noborito. If a woman has an addiction to alcohol, drugs, food (really fat, 99% sure this isn't this case), or if the baby is premature as Apsara said they may end up giving birth very easily.

Ditto with Sarge.

If my woman went after something like this, I'd pick her up by her collar and do one of those cartoon moments where I kick her butt out the door and lock it.

My brother had to be put on a leash. Why? He ran off anytime we went to a store. I remember him getting lost so many times and my parents finally said "This is enough." Mom and dad can't hold their hand all the time and when you go into a store, particularly a clothes store with racks, kids like to jump into the racks and then get lost.

Leashes for kids are great and keeps them in mom and dad's reach. I know kids have a natural curiosity that should be nurtured, but nurtured in a safe place, not in the middle of a shopping center where they can get lost, abducted, or hurt.

And is why all the incredibly scared fish are on the other side of the tank, Ivan.

I'm nervous about asking my girlfriend's parents to let me marry her. Ahhh! They're very traditional. Asking the parents of any woman is never easy, yay for this guy if he went and asked.

Mmm, maybe more jobs for me. :)

Wow, that's a lot of arguing here and for some reason I read a bit of it. Girls can wear makeup and make themselves look as they like, I'll take my pick of the one that is for me - and have done just that. She wears makeup, but not not tons. She doesn't leave the house without makeup, but she's still lovely without it on, even after waking up in the morning with her hair everywhere.

Took her a couple years of living in rural America to rethink a bit of herself before returning to Japan. She likes fashion, buys cute clothes, blahblah, but doesn't pay as much attention to all the made up fashioon gurus anymore. Tsubasa is cute, probably cute without her makeup, but glad the girls do try and pretty themselves. Always great to have pretty girls. :)

womanforwomen, you're right. It puts me off when a woman is not being herself.

They've always tried to improve the safety of escalators, but little ones can always find a place to stick their fingers no matter what the object is. Poor little girl. :(

I couldn't find a good comment in my head for this story without typing several paragraphs. I'd say take a look at it and ask "is this really necessary?" as Japan continues to face all its other problems.

Nice article there too, Weasel. This is all only going to complicate Japan's agining population problem. Carnivors eat the herbivors and weaker carnivors, it's just the nature of things.

Well, this inclines one to clean their plate.

She's cute and she's only 20. She'll put a little bit of weight on as she gets older - everyone does.

I'm with yomuri and Sarge!

Lovely ring, saving the link as a bookmark, thanks! =D

Haha, don't worry, Azrael, she already has a promise ring on her finger. ;) She's also a very good sport when it comes to silly jokes about serious matters and has played a few on me herself!

Fadamor, that's great! HAHAHA

This has to be a novelty item, I'm so buying my girlfriend one. She'd love it and laugh just as much as I would. This is just hilarious!

"as aliens who have a dance session with Capt. Kirk"... it definitely sounds like something out of the original Star Trek. Hahaha, awesome.

jonnyboy really got it right. Wow, I never realized that and I do exercise regularly. Now I understand why my paycheck never see's me anymore and my remaining is bills. Dang...

As for this picture, wow. She's ... wow. :) WHOOO!

I'm tired of seeing these articles... just disturbing how they continue to pop up. More disturbing is probably all of the articles we don't see that they keep quiet related to this.