AgentX comments

I can't wait until these new laws come in!

I'm a smoker and I never leave butts behind unless there is an ashtray. I don't appreciate the generalisation.

I see a lot of smokers not being conscious of where there smoke is blowing if they are near people. It's not hard to walk a few meters downwind of someone if you are outside at a park.

Yes, smokers should be as conscientious as they can given the circumstances they are provided with.

With that said, let's all stop the witch-hunting of smokers.

So many stories of truck/car drivers dragging someone along under the car for long distances WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING in JP. Seriously, best to stop with the tunnel vision and "hear no evil" way of life JP dudes.

@LadyInRed: well said!

I don't think he will pull through. And this will probably tip the scales to stop/postpone the games.

Dems some bitter grapes...

The LDP and IOC pretty much made sure the Olympics were "cursed" from the beginning when it started with a BRIBE!

I hope this doesn't only focus on the post-Yayoi periods. The Jomon lived here peacefully for many thousands of years before the Yahoo and Yamato came across from the Asian mainland...

And still the leading cause of death in Japanese youth...

Dead people are not being tested, just given 'pneumonia' as the reason. That's why the figures are so low.

I'd say it's more like living people are not being tested. Hence the mortality rate would be much lower of they were...

Yep , if you somehow initiate a Jinshin-jiko (accident that causes injury to another) it's always gonna be your fault here, no matter what...

Yes, quite a sad and lazy approach to finding who was at fault. Because of this we have the occasional crazy who tries to deliberately walk/ride in front of oncoming cars in order to blackmail the driver scam (I had an old guy try to do it to me in Kyoto once, but he underestimated how fast I was on the brakes).

Its also a factor in the high rate of hit-and-runs here...

RIP little girl.

They have already taken their tests. What will the final 3 weeks of school teach them that they haven't learned all year?

To become evermore jingoistic. Seems like a quip, but it's not. Speaking from experience...

Both ruling and opposition party lawmakers say the government should be cautious about declaring an emergency that would suppress people's rights.

Yep. This scares me TBH. I don't trust that the LDP's actions will be balanced and well-considered judging by the trail of maelstrom they have left behind (scandals, bribery, corruption etc)...

They will use this to the advantage of Japan Inc. (ie: themselves!).

And this is why diversity - especially in government (!!!) - should be appreciated...

Not to mention that teachers have been sitting face to face in the staff rooms like sardines through all of this anyway. But yeah, the boogieman is coming for ya' wherever you are...

What we have so far is hardly a state of emergency! And I fear what the extra 'measures' would involve. Are we going to see people dragged out of their homes because of the boogie-man like we saw in China? Or just place everyone under a quasi house arrest?

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if this whole thing is simply used at yet another power-grab and a chance to erode more of our rights.

What would the current government do in a real, bonafide emergency? Just scary...

That's a really harsh penalty for a victimless crime, especially so when we often see sex-crimes go unpunished or with very light punishment in comparison. As for the hotel worker that narked on him - what a very 'small' man...

How about law enforcement go out, patrol and ENFORCE the laws first? But I guess this is step in the right direction. The roads are way too dangerous now.

I agree to some extent (especially in regards to child-seats), but personally, I like that Japan is not an overtly 'police state' on the roads. I don't want to cop a $300 fine via military grade technology every time I drift over the speed limit by 5km/h...

It's somewhat stressful driving through Japan's tight and overly busy roads but due to the slower speeds, there are actually less car accidents in JP than most other (all?) G7 nations.

How do you get a sword like that in Japan A katana?

A lot of families still have heirlooms from earlier days.

You can't ask store clerks to confront a man with a sword and potentially risk their own lives.

I agree in essence, but there are too many people here that do NOTHING to help those in need in these type of situations. Look at the guy killed in-front of dozens of onlookers in Nagoya last year as an example. Only two WOMEN made ANY attempt to at least try to talk him out of it. The rest stood well back with, some simply used their phones and took video.

In less extreme circumstances I recall a story about a guy who died on a platform from a heart attack, while the morning commuters ignored him and walked straight past... These stories are all too common here.

Don't expect help from people in your time of need in Japan.

In their meeting at the premier's office in Tokyo, Abe briefed Grossi on the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant...

How about letting independent experts (non-Japanese/non-biased) brief Abe on the situation instead of letting the corrupt and incompetent LDP control the narrative!

Grossi replied, "You mentioned history, history is of course part of that but...I think it's also the present and the future where this organization and Japan have a lot to do together in so many areas."

Well said, Grossi. Stop letting them play the victim card at every turn. The IAEA needs to play a more important role in this, I don't trust TEPCO and LDP to do this job competently!

Japan is one of the biggest 'nuclear threats' in the world right now...

The leftist Dems always have the most useless people for heros and cheerleaders. Whats this guy ever done for anybody?

Oh my! He wants a better future and corporations to care more about the environment - and makes the news.

I'd say he's done dam sight more for humanity than you ever have, or will. Oh, and that's not even counting his art...

According to the MEXT guide Hi Friends!, of course they do.

Good point! Let this also be a lesson to the Japanese themselves why stereotyping is bad thing...

Takes 2 to tango. Where are the sentences for those in government involved in the scandal?

Exactly this! ^

How would one go about "illegally receiving" money from the government with the thousands of professional rubber-stampers and teeth suckers in any Japanese municipality?

These guys were just the patsies for Abe's failed plans to finally create a new Japan that honors the old Japanese nationalist ideologies (that still exist just under the surface). Extremist, and sickening!

Yet, the majority of Japanese citizens continue to tacitly condone the LDP's antiquated and fascist tendencies. You get what you deserve!

Lots of privilege commenting here...

A great many people, both male and female, are living just above the poverty line in Japan.

If Japan Inc started coming down on corruption it'd be like a South Park episode. They'd be handcuffing themselves to each other...

Cut out the BS rubber-stamping and the useless, hierarchical (ego flexing) meetings and watch productivity increase. The above point about having a staff comprised mainly of yes-men and women is also a major factor. Stop sending people all over the country without asking if they want to go (employ people from those locations or find staff who are WILLING to go). Oh! And people need to reach senior positions based on skill and experience, not age and name alone. The empire days are gone - live with it.

Japan's going to have to give common-sense and humanity a go in order to keep up in the 21st century...

Just goes to show that brainwashing has a detrimental effect on the development of intelligence. The strangle-hold of nationalistic ideology driving identity politics (Aso et al.) and the straight jacket of an authoritarian education system reproducing sterile conformity is bound to create such robotic individuals with thought processes akin to AI. "Deprogramming" is urgently needed if Japan is to prosper into the 22nd century.

Very well said!

A deep bow and some lame excuses should fix it. No need to be detained and cut off from lawyers and family for months on end...

Corruption is alive and genki in Japan.

his client was questioned an average of seven hours a day without a lawyer present.

In...hu...mane!

Japanese authorities still have a very weak grasp on humanity, in general. Truth.

Because he (and his government) is so renowned for 'easing tensions'...