albaleo comments

Good sleuthing, Alba - it's very hard to find anywhere else in the world, isn't it?!

Specifically involving "public servants", yes. But it's not so difficult to find lots of cases of people stealing underwear.

I also recall a time you could buy ysed girls underwear in downtown Tokyo not that long ago.

They may have been my nieces'. Back in the 90s maybe (memory hazy), my sister-in-law was thinking of selling her three daughters' used underwear. Her attitude was basically, "no harm done, take the money".

You know you're in Japan when a public servant is arrested for stealing women's underwear.

Seriously, does this fetish exist anywhere else in the world?

The link below is the case of a New York judge. Albeit from a few years ago.

https://nypost.com/2020/04/03/panty-stealing-long-island-judge-stripped-of-license-steps-down-from-bench/

This is where the youth of Japan have it right. The misinformed older generations need to learn from the younger one

The younger ones could perhaps learn a thing or two from the older generation such as how not to get caught.

Apple has always been its own walled garden. If it was not antitrust with the Macintosh, why is it antitrust with the iPhone?

I don't think there is a "walled garden" with Macintosh computers. You can install apps from 3rd party locations.

Yet Finland ranks quite high in its rate of suicide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate

I grew up hearing over and over and over again the the Olympics was about sports and not politics. 

Me too. I don't recall as a kid knowing which country an athlete played for. The focus seemed to be on individual achievement.

I've suggested this before, but maybe it's time to drop the national flags at the Olympics. If we need teams, then maybe Year Of Birth or Zodiac signs.

Come on the sheep!

being detained on suspicion of engaging in spying activities

In this case, perhaps being detained on suspicion of not engaging in spying activities.

Absolutely! So why not add even more to the mix and up the radiation?

Some might say there is a case for that. I haven't looked at this kind of thing for a while, but there is a notion that certain levels of radiation are beneficial. I think some long-ago studies showed that higher levels of natural radiation in some places reduced certain cancer issues. The results were a little confusing. But I think the notion is that radiation can kill both healthy cells and non-healthy cells in the body. If, at certain levels, more non-healthy cells are killed than healthy cells, then radiation is good.

Where's my Geiger counter?

However, if the government is telling the truth, this water is not radioactive. 

All sea water is radioactive to some extent, along with everything else - rocks, soil, and even our bodies. It's the level of radiation that is important.

England wasn't formed until the 10th century when the English lands were unified in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927. Before then it was Britannia.

Perhaps I'm being pedantic, but England was only a part of that island of mud, rocks and gray clouds called Britannia. The Kingdom of Scotland had been formed in the 9th century.

Funny that Patrick was English

Some say he was from Scotland or even Wales. There is also a thought that there were two of them. But as there was no England, Scotland or Wales in those days, it probably doesn't matter. Romano-British seems to be the general description.

Do you feel edgy? Because that's how the kids feel about tattoos - not edgy.

I can be edgy. Can't we all? But it might be better if youngsters felt a bit edgy before getting tattoos. I'm sure some will feel edgy a few years after getting them.

Well, cool. yes. But edgy? Tattoos are about as edgy as listening to music.

And we know the grandpas have a problem with that.

Careful, now! I'm approaching my 70s and assume I will continue listening to music. I'm also wondering about getting a tattoo, perhaps in five years or so.

It seems the intensity was shindo 4 in the area of the power plant.

https://www.data.jma.go.jp/multi/quake/quake_detail.html?eventID=20240315002007&lang=en

The article isn't very clear but my understanding is that groups that come under this definition will not be criminalized but will be denied government funding and meeting with government officials.

So what explains the horrendous atrocities committed by Japan in China before these sanctions?

We should perhaps read the book to find out. But I've always assumed that Japan (or its leaders anyway) wanted to achieve a similar imperial status to that of western countries.

"The best health service in the world" as most Brits over 45 will parrot .. lol

They perhaps said that 20 years ago or so. Not any more.

Maybe it's time someone made a film about atomic bombs from the perspective of Japan or a Japanese person.

But which Japanese people? My mother-in-law, a young teenager at the time, said the atomic bombings and subsequent surrender came as a relief. She felt happy. She said she later also felt a little guilty for those feelings, when thinking about the effects on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But she can't deny those feelings were real.

You can see the photo at the link below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68526972

It doesn't seem such a big deal. Maybe some reptile skin was showing through on the original.

Regarding voiceofokinawa's comment above, below is what Robert McNamara said in a later interview about the bombing.

"We burned to death 100,000 Japanese civilians in Tokyo – men, women, and children… [U.S. General] Lemay recognized that what he was doing would be thought immoral if his side had lost … But what makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win? LeMay said ‘if we’d lost the war, we’d all have been prosecuted as war criminals’. And I think he’s right – and I’d say – we were behaving as war criminals."

The US could have dropped one in Germany

I don't think so. The war in Europe had ended before the A-bomb had been fully developed.

A-bombs came while Japanese were preparing to counter the expected enemy landing with bamboo spears

True. I met a Japanese man who told me that he was practicing as a young teenager with a bamboo spear when the Hiroshima bomb went off. He said he felt stupid.

I have never understood why foreign tourists go to Osaka in the first place.

A great place to live, but not so great to visit. :-)

But one of the benefits for tourists is that it's conveniently located for visiting other places - Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Koya-san, the prison in Sakai, etc.

The article doesn't really tell us the nature of the discrimination so it's hard to comment. But it would seem reasonable to allow university groups to discuss the pros and cons of Israel's invasion of Gaza. On the other hand, it would be wrong for students to shout out "Jews are bad". But, sadly, I think we all know that in any group of people, there will be the few that step over the mark. The university is accused of allowing anti-semitism. But it's not clear what that consists of and what, if any, steps the university has taken to prevent any threat to Jewish students. I guess we'll have to wait for the lawsuit to complete before we find out.

The article is about adding more tax only on foreigners!

So it seems. There are various "tourist" charges around the world, and they are generally understandable. They apply to all visitors. But if this only applies to foreigners, it is a little ugly. Will it apply to me when I next go to Osaka, not as a tourist but simply to visit family?

@Quo Primum

I hope this is a case of you not being a native English speaker, and thus not knowing the difference between "look up" and "look at."

I do have difficulty with English sometimes - usually when mixed with geometry. If a cheerleader raises her right knee so it is at the same height as her hip and I see whatever is underneath, am I looking up her skirt, under her skirt, or in a line parallel to the right side of her skirt?

But at Koshien, don't the cheerleaders usually stand on the steps between the rows of seats? So the "up angle" would vary depending on where I was located. (Where's my protractor?)

Anyway, below is a link to a photo of cheerleaders at Koshien wearing shorts (from last year.). They look happy.

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14872756

@girl_in_tokyo

I'm sure there's a difference between people who "sneak up" to take photos and those who simply take photos (e.g. for a newspaper or simply the cheerleader's family). But I don't see a great difference of the effect on the cheerleaders themselves. Don't they generally show what's under their cheerleader skirts when they jump up and down? Not so different from how they might look in a swimming pool.

I'm still reminded of when my son played rugby as a young teenager and there was talk of banning people taking photos in case they were perverts. One of the mothers just laughed and said, "If someone gets a thrill of taking a photo of my son rolling in the mud, that's his problem, not ours."

I'm a bit puzzled by this. It's hard not to look up the skirts of cheerleaders. Taking photos of things you can see normally doesn't sound so weird to me - just google "cheerleader photos".

Directly controlling the atmosphere and climate may seem like something from a science fiction novel. On the other hand, even if we get past the current climate issue by reducing carbon gas emissions, the climate is likely to change again in the future from natural effects - just look at the earth's history. Maybe we should consider conducting climate control experiments on another planet, e.g. Mars.

Mazaah (mother), fuazaah (father), etc.

That brings back fond memories of Shimura Ken teaching English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkZuKn-16q8

Sunak is unelected as Prime Minister, the British Foreign Minister and the Head of State are both also unelected.

I'm a bit confused, Alfie. No UK Prime Minister or other cabinet members are ever elected directly. They are selected by Members of Parliament who are elected.