Aliasis comments

Yeah, try asking for a burger without pickles in Japan. Not gonna happen. The staff will get a startled look on their face and say something like, "but, it comes with pickles!" You can insist for five minutes straight, it's a waste of your time.

And American McDonald's is cheaper, too, so. Yeah.

Religion doesn't belong in government, not a single mention of any deity. People's relationship with god/s should be built in their private time, if they want at all.

This is a generalization. Yes, I think the standard of customer service in Japan is more... standardized to be polite. But it's not warm or friendly, and I have gasp had quite a few bad customer service experiences here (including at McDonald's). Just because they more or less follow a script doesn't mean it's good. In the West, the thing is it varies more. You can have terrible customer service, but you can also have awesome, friendly, great service.

Wives... okay. But how about you watch our female politicians. :) They're far more worthy of your admiration.

"I don't have opposable thumbs.... yet I oppose everything."

I honestly prefer the fries you can buy at 7-11 over McDonald's. And loads of izakayas serve better fries than that, too.

GOOD. I mean, that's the very least. They should also cut down on selling cats and dogs, and conversely encouraging people to adopt the countless strays that are taken in by underfunded animal shelters. And not toss their pet on the street when it's not cute anymore, or when they have to move.

Pet stores here should also seriously increase cage sizes for their animals. I've seen puppies and kittens kept in horrible tiny little aquariums with no toys and sometimes no water bottle even.

Additionally, Japanese "spoiling" their pets is often misguided. For example, cooking your pet a meal that consists of grains, veggies, and sugary/salty sauces when your pet is a freaking carnivore is horrible. Dogs and especially cats don't need that crap, in fact, in can make them really unhealthy. If you want to spoil your pet, buy a pet food that has a very high meat content and doesn't use corn/rice.

Better Obama than Romney.

It's sick how often this happens. Train groping, upskirting, sexual harassment... Japan needs to reevaluate a lot about its culture's treatment of women, that lets men think it's okay to treat women like this.

Japan is a homogenous country to be sure

Um, no. The myth of Japan's ethnic homogeneity is just that - a myth. Try telling that to all the Koreans, Chinese, and other Southeast Asians - hell, even westerners and everyone else.

Did I say people? I meant men. If Romney wins, women can kiss their healthcare goodbye.

Obama inherited the mess. It's all easy to blame Obama, but very short-sighted. This was Bush's fault, and then with the Republicans blocking him at every turn - caring more about opposing him than the good of the country - it's no wonder things are going badly. No one but rich, white, straight Christian people will benefit from Romney in office.

Ugh, I hate when women feel like they have to act stupid and childish to be attractive. Hint - if the guy you're dating wants you to act in such a way, he is a freaking creep.

WHAT?! The Japanese government is considering allowing the DEATH PENALTY for CHILDREN?!

What... the... If that becomes true, I'm leaving this country. That is vile and disgusting.

Objectify a woman, men applaud. Objectify a man, men scream and rage and get offended.

I'm not offended, I think men who can pull off successful crossdressing as women are awesome and beautiful. I love when models challenge gender norms and traditional images. I wonder to know if this model is ACTUALLY transgender or just a cross dresser - wouldn't be surprised if JT mixed that up.

Making such threats should be taken seriously, but let's remember even if it was him, he never actually killed anyone. Could've been a sick joke, a comment made under stress, or a stupid line that for some reason didn't have actual meaning. The point is he's not a killer as of now, he made the comment almost two months ago and he didn't do anything. Let's not act like he's actually a murderer.

Supportive! It's a fun, creative hobby. Geeks are the funnest people I know, and the most interesting besides that. Making a costume and modeling it doesn't seem that weird to me, but maybe because I'm into art and I like sewing clothes.

If Assange is guilty of his alleged rape crime, that's horrible and he should be punished. That being said, there's some obvious political seediness at play, it seems pretty clear a lot of people are trying to get him locked up and treat him like a villain.0 Wikileaks is heroic and ought to be treated separately. Governments SHOULD be held accountable for their crimes and corruption.

More than Assange, the one who actually uncovered military war crimes, Bradley Manning is a hero. And it's disgusting what the US is doing to him (a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, by the way).

It DOES decrease productivity. I'm very supportive of energy saving efforts, but 28 degrees is way too high for me. My own office tends to stay between 25 and 26.

Additionally, I find in Japan that they are all totally into "saving electricity" in the summer, but the moment November comes around - whether or not it's actually cold - the heat is cranked up, and remains too strong all winter. I compensate for my AC use in the summer by not using heat in the winter. I have blankets and sweatshirts for that.

Serious violence, assault, etc. should all be treated as crimes. If a kid gets beat up, the bullies should be facing a lot of trouble. If it gets to the point where a kid is afraid to go to school, something has to be done. At very least, schools need to dole out strict punishments and preferably step in and stop it before it gets out of hand. It's probably impossible to completely stamp out bullying but surely we can do a lot better than we've been doing now!

what they perceive to be a black Kenyan Muslim socialist and the Democrats trying to prevent a win by what they perceive to be a tax-dodging millionaire Mormon totally lacking in empathy.

One of these statements is significantly more true than the other, however...

what they perceive to be a black Kenyan Muslim socialist and the Democrats trying to prevent a win by what they perceive to be a tax-dodging millionaire Mormon totally lacking in empathy.

One of these statements is significantly more true than the other, however...

Ugh, I'm so glad this douchebag is getting backlash. I can't quite decide which is more offensive, the fact that he's trying to define "legitimate" rape (all rape is rape) or trying to make up science that supports the fact that he doesn't want women to have the rights over their own bodies.

It's so annoying that abortion is becoming a spotlight issue but 99% of the politicians talking about it are MEN.

Haha, I lol'd. I found this very true. I don't know who the other commenters are talking to, but even when I speak to someone in Japanese they often respond in (not so good) English. "Can you eat ____" is one of the most common questions, usually sushi or natto. If I say one word in Japanese, it's a direct "Nihongo jouzu desu ne!"

Those fish must hate their lives.

The countryside is "real" Japan? Maybe if you're talking about untouched by tourism or something, but considering MOST Japanese people live in the cities, I think it's safe to say Tokyo and Osaka are REAL Japan.

Also, I have a problem with this author's attitude toward foreigners. Foreign friends should be done "in moderation"? Foreign gatherings are "uncouth" and she "hates" them? I'm actually kind of offended. How about make lots of friends without discriminating? Make friends with people who are good people that you're compatible with? "Hating foreigners" is such a Japanophile thing to say, and very much strikes me as someone who has lived in Japan for less than one year.

Here's a problem with living in the country, too. If you're a young person, just graduated university, and go to Japan to teach English, in the country you'll not find many Japanese people your age. They've all gone to the cities to study/work. So unless you want to make friends with old people...

Ugh. It's awesome that these ladies are fierce, pretty and smart. But their accomplishments in the sciences should be admired as human beings, not reduced to this supposed fundamental value of a woman: being pretty.... they've earned so much more than that and this is stupid.

Interesting article, incredibly stupid (and disrespectful) title. Sounds like she's NOT a "wannabe", she IS a geisha.

Fifty Shades is HARDLY breakthrough in being "porn written by women for women". The stuff exists by the millions, and kinkier at that. Fifty Shades is just notorious because it started out as a Twilight fanfiction and went down from there - from that statement you can probably guess how well it's written from that statement alone.