AgentX comments

How else are you supposed to pay for something whose price doesn't end in a 5 or 0?

Exactly what I was thinking! Am I missing something here? It is still valid, and very relevant, currency.

Swedish rounding. Happens in many countries already. Or use a card.

There is no option to round. The total price is the total price. Many places insist on no cards (現金), so I fail to see how using 1 yen coins can be avoided.

Please fill me in.

PNG was very grateful to Australia during WWII when Australia allied with PNG to fight back the Imperial Japanese Army that was en route to invade Australia. For the most part, relationships have been well kept between Australia and PNG ever since. I would imagine PNG would appreciate, once again, having an Australian base there for security of looming threats in the Pacific.

It's not hard for hackers to hack those Windows XP computers...

There were still flashes of Trump's outsized persona...

Who would expect anything else?

Certainly in my case the Doctor offered to place it on my kids bottom or sole of the foot.

At the clinic, sure. But if it's done at school?

I heard you can actually choose where you want that the be placed. Doesn't always have to be shoulder.

When they are ramming the kids through like cattle, do you really think the kids can choose? I'd highly doubt it.

May be time for people to start washing their hands when the leave the toilet...

A lot of 'Mericans in here saying, "Yeah, he shoulda got shot good!"

This is what happens when you stack your cabinet with your crony mates.

I think it's something that can descend into fascism, again. That's one reason why democratic safeguards are put into place. In that respect, GHQ should have done more while they were here. Nonetheless, this is the situation we all have to endure now. I hope it doesn't spiral downward too far.

@Simon Foston: Very true!

Even if the poeple of Japan could directly vote for their prime-minister, they are too gullible, docile and easily influenced to have voted otherwise. We all knew this was coming. Literally, a corrupt man holds the top position of politics in Japan - uncontested...

It’s disturbing how often this scenario repeats itself in Japan. Help is available although, it can be expensive, but that doesn’t excuse anybody from killing their ailing mother.

Exactly! That why it is just downright insulting to my ears when people say "Japan has low/no crime," There are clearly massive (albeit, inconvenient) problems that are not being addressed. Social problems put both the mother and the son in this horrific situation.

sorry I was just trying to be funny, failed obviously :)

Sorry dude! Didn't catch on.

Looks like we all agree that Japan can have a sustainable quota of minke whales then.

It takes some serious metal gymnastics to arrive at that.

Correct me me if I am wrong.

Sure! See below:

accident

ˈaksɪd(ə)nt

noun

noun: accident; plural noun: accidents

an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.

... maybe it's time for Japan to grow up and stop hiding behind Mum's skirt.

Japan should leave the IWC. Japan has nothing to offer and does not belong there.

Japan can and will hunt whales all they want and nobody will stop them.

I'd like to see them try it. Until now, they have been hiding behind a loop-hole and playing the passive-aggressive game that is normal in Japan. I wonder if Japan even has the courage?

The world is finally getting wise to Japan...

How do you expect the Police to be consistent in doing their job without 'the book'

The Police are everything BUT consistent now! I couldn't possibly count the number of times I have seen police here look away from traffic infringements right in front of their eyes.

Why suddenly hit a grieving mother with their upright interpretation of the law now? Fact is, this incident could also have been interpreted as an 'accident' from the beginning.

You may, but I certainly don't so, please don't include me in your "We all"

Hear you loud and clear on that one! You and I are definitely not on the same team if you think that it is OK for the Police to selectively make-an-example at this mother's time of tragedy.

It’s hard to comprehend so many people defending this irresponsible and negligent woman. The child is dead because of her negligence and irresponsibility. That is the cold, hard and sad fact!

So, basically you are saying (or condoning) that any mother who fails to put helmets on their children and/or holds an umbrella incorrectly while using a bicycle.... deserves, not only, their child to be killed and... AND for them to then have a manslaughter charge placed on them.

If they want to make an example, I think there are more humane ways to do it...

And for the record, I think many posters here are not exercising due empathy toward her. She was obviously someone under a large workload, on a poor wage, trying to juggle everything. It was raining, it was hard for her in that situation, she was trying to protect her babies and took a 'shortcut' in how she stowed her umbrella.

Don't tell me you have never taken a shortcut in regards to safety whilst in a difficult situation.

It was not a crime. Just a terrible accident. She has suffered enough. Charging her with manslaughter (!) won't do anything toward improving safety here. But it will further devastate her, and her family's lives.

I'd hate to be in a position to have to decide these heart-rending cases.

I'll bet the guy initially flagged it had no qualms in simply 'following the book'. We all know they type.

I don't believe a word this taxi driver states. C'mon, who exits their car with it still in gear or in neutral?

One in the early stages of dementia?

This is a sickening and spineless interpretation of justice! It's just completely warped!

Police said the woman has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Why? Did she appear to be happy that her son died in the accident?

Speaking of, get them off the sidewalks.

To where exactly? Due to the governments and local councils' inter-generational inability to plan cities and towns, there is no way and no where to safely commute without problems.

If they really want to make a difference, target the many infractions that can be seen prior to tragedies like the above. Unrestrained kids with free reign in cars etc etc etc.

My thoughts go out to this mother who obviously loves kids, considering her vocation.

No one makes money in Russia without someone's permission and that person getting a piece of the pie too.

That's pretty much the story here in JP, too. Perhaps, not to the same extent. But there are definitely a multiverse of measures in place to protect Japan Inc. and their partners.

@Cleo and Fish - I totally take your points on board!

Could be, I dunno... different folk have different experiences, and different perspectives based on those experiences.

It may well be, has to be, the case! I have seen 'hafu' school children struggling to make friends and fit in with other schoolkids with my own eyes. Evidently it does come down to the individuals' mileage. But I can't agree with the blanket sentiment that there are no problems as you seem to imply. Please read:

https://blog.gaijinpot.com/live-hafu-japan/

I also think the notion that, for those 'hafu' who are having problems or feeling isolated because of who they are, that it is really unfair to suggest that the problem is simply their own perception! This type of.. lack of empathy, or disbelief of their personal accounts, is quite dangerous for anyone - especially so for children! We already live in a society that, once someone becomes marginalized, it's really hard to come back - and help is almost non-existent.

Though I readily admit that being caucasian-japanese haafs, my kids maybe have a much easier time of it than other haaf combinations.

And although I commend you and your kids for standing tall; even in the reverse, it's still discrimination to put someone up on a pedestal because they have a white (or otherwise) parent. Why should ANYONE be judged on appearances, good or bad, and from whence they descended? Why should they be treated differently because of how they look? It happens all the time here. My points are that there is a problem and that Japan ought to stop doing it! Period.

We may disagree on this subject, but that's cool. Naturally, it happens from time to time.

"It's good to have diversity. It's good to have an open policy," Kono said.

Now to convince about 120 million people, that have been systematically taught otherwise, of that.

cleoSep. 13 07:40 pm JST

There is nothing insulting in the term haaf, unless you're of the opinion that stating the fact that a person has parents of different ethnicities/nationalities is inherently insulting.

I grew up in a multicultural society, raised by a man with a different skin color than mine. In general terms, I 'see' only people, not ethnicity etc. It might be a lofty standard to hold others to, but I know from my own life experiences that that way of thinking is the path to higher levels of peace, productivity and happiness for all (citizenship/residency needs not withstanding, of course).

But often times (sure, I used hyperbole in my post), the average Japanese person uses the term in a way that... differentiates.. a 'haafu' from a 'regular mainstream' person. And if you know the Japanese educational system from the inside, you would know that Japan goes to extreme lengths to distance itself from the rest of world in terms of culture and heritage. Which brings me to my next point:

... it's not like other countries insist on pigeonholing people by ethnicity (African-American, Irish-American, German-American, Native-American etc., etc.,)...

Personally, my country does not make those distinctions in general conversation unless there is a reason to do so. I think that's an American thing.

Haafs aren't victims.

I agree, and didn't say that they were! Victims, in many cases, are just those who adopt a 'victim mentality'. I think if certain individuals are singled out for genetic differences, good or bad, they should stand tall and be confident in themselves regardless. But then, in a country that quickly judges people on pysical characteristics, I also think that it should be a non-starting subject..!

I love your posts, and appreciate being challenged on my thoughts. I think you would be a great parent, but is there a chance that you may be trivializing the real-world issues that (whether they are aware that it is happening or not) your kids will go through? That said, maybe I overthink the 'issue' - so maybe the truth is somewhere between you and I??

Either way, thanks for your post.

hafu isn't used as a perjorative by japanese people, only gaijin see it that way.

While true to some extent, overall, I'm calling BS on that statement. There is always a strange pause when someone refers to another as 'hafu'. And half-Japanese people usually make out that it doesn't bother them (to be called 'hafu') because it's their only defense against being singled out. Taking exception to being referred to as 'hafu' just excacerbates the problem for them (in typical Japanese blame the victim mentality).

Personally I don't know why the Japanese need to pigeonhole every single persons' ethnicity...

But now Putin will be the one who wants peace, and Abe the one who makes things difficult. Well played.

Putin aside for the moment - since when has Abe actually wanted peace? Everything the LDP does is a passive-aggressive hack toward changing Article 9.

It Belongs to Japan, The End.

Well... clearly not. But if you wanna go on living in that little bubble illusion you've made there, suit yourself.

This is my point, all the drills, seminars, and advice amount to nothing in a real event.

That's because they are purely for the purpose of photo-ops and perpetual fear-mongering. They have no bones. The people aren't 'thinking' when they sit through these drills/seminars. They are just memorizing and blindly doing what they are told.

Any smart foreigner here knows no to look for the government for support in.. well.. anything! But you gotta feel for the unprepared that come here to see all the ninjas and unicorns...