alliswellinjapan comments

Heard in other reports that the driver was an 80 yr old man. This is certainly not the first time we are hearing about these accidents of old aged drivers plowing into buildings, driving in the wrong direction on highways etc. With more people dying obviously the restrictions need to be tightened to ensure public safety.

At least they are being fully open about it.

Given the circumstances Japan may not have much choice but to hope that Abe and team can develop a comprehensive master plan which does not solely rely on money printing and funding for wasteful concrete but has all other important acts together which should certainly include deregulation, placing the right bets on new industries incl energy, opening up to foreign workers, improving the education system with more focus on English communication and debates, toning down the hawkish rhetoric while working more closely with US and getting good deals from the free trade negotiations making important compromises where necessary, to name a few.

Just for clarification this one is Tohoku-epco not TEPCO. Good that the panel reached an unanimous conclusion so there is no ambiguity.

Sad a developed country like Japan needs the OECD to state the obvious.

Pretty sure Scorcese would never allow the incident to go uncovered but will certainly have their own careful twist as approved by Clinton. Quite surprising to learn that Clinton was this much of an exhibitionist willing to take all the chances with the public, his wife and family and all.

This incident clarifies two points. One, major companies like Rohto considering use of this SK actress for TV tells us that the public either doesn't care or never really knew about whatever fuss being made. Two, the police would never hesitate to immediately lock these right wingers up for whatever violation of law, which is just normal, but always comforting to confirm.

Rather I see China toning down their remarks as compared to before implying their preference to seek a soft landing while carefully controlling emotional reactions from their generally frustrated lower class. Putting aside everything else most important is Abe's clear message to prioritize US relations over everything else which will continue to keep China from doing anything drastic.

Clearly a powerful drug. Can't be shortsighted and has to go hand in hand with all other measures such as clearer industrial growth strategies, deregulation, corporate tax cuts, possibly getting a good deal out of the TPP or EPA discussions etc. Abe is being advised by mastermind economist Yoichi Takahashi who is under the strong belief that printing more money is the solution to many of Japan's problems and what has to some extent helped stabilize the economy in 2002-2007 when he advised Koizumi and Abe at the time, which of course is arguable for many. He is also advisor to Hashimoto. A lot of debate is certain to arise on this amid fears over another bubble/hyper inflation or worsening economic disparity but at least they have a plan on the table for discussion.

Good to know everyone is sticking to law and order. Regardless of cause or own beliefs terrorist activities should never be tolerated. Funding for SS is better spent for lobbying or PR for cut in related subsidies which is more in line with Japan's national interest rather than attacks in dangerous waters or criticism of entire country.

I tend to be against articles of this nature which report as news what unanimous bloggers and tweeters are posting. Firstly none of them carry factual information which represents anything substantive thereby raising questions on their journalistic value and secondly they carry the risk of being intentionally used for demagogic manipulation of the public mind. Used to think South Korea did this much more often but I see Japan and the rest of the world following suit. Should put and end to this meaningless yet dangerous trend.

Will come to know his chances of survival once he appoints his men. Most important is for him to deliver on his economic policies, otherwise the market currently reflective of its expectations will plunge back to where it was before. Biggest risk factors are the usual scandals by appointed ministers which always seem to unfold under any leader and distractions from Ishihara who is clearly in a rush to accomplish his goals during his time. Hopefully Koizumi Junior will be appointed as Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, Special Advisor to PM or anything that can show the new face of the LDP effectively representing the younger generation through his fire, determination and eloquence and help stabilize the government which is in the best interests of the entire world.

We need much more of this.

Would have been harsher had the third force gotten their act together. Some may view that Noda minimized the damages through calling for a surprise election at short notice to give the third force little time to think and act carefully. Sad for Noda that weakening the third force helped the LDP more than it did the DPJ as it turned out DPJ was headed for miserable loss either way.

The poster itself is already Miyazaki at his finest. The setting, the view, the colors, the girl, the message. Wish we had many more master artisans at his level so we can appreciate the highest art of animation much more often than every 5 or so years.

Utter loss for words. Obama's emotional press conference in tears and anger says it all. This will inevitably mark a clear turning point towards much stricter gun control in the US. Enough is enough.

All in all sincerely hope the Communist Party is maintaining effective control of their own army and know what they are doing.

If the younger generation were to look up to anyone it would have most likely been Hashimoto but I suspect everything wore out when he made the single largest mistake in deciding to team up with Ishihara who along with other members of the Sun Party ended up revealing themselves to be nothing other an even more conservative (and certainly older) version of the LDP. If Hashimoto tied up with Watanabe majority of the urban votes still going to DPJ including additional votes from the younger generation would have gone to them thereby enabling them to fare better with the LDP. With LDP in such a strong position in no absolute need of a coalition Hashimoto has shown a perfect example of what happens when one tries to go after two (if not three) "hares" in my view.

Reinforces the fact that this was a man-made disaster which requires police to take actions in arresting the company's management.

Being loudly reprimanded by your boss in front of other colleagues used to be part of everyday life at the office for an average J-salarymen. Many in their 40s and 50s continue to carry this tradition to this day and believe it to be an essential part of training and educating your subordinates, perhaps similar to how corporal punishment is still being used by certain teachers.

Japan of today remains unable to deal with its past essentially because they are unable to put the entire blame on Tojo and the imperial government at the time the way the Germans have done on Hitler and the Nazis. They are unable to define and condemn them as the crazy foreign elements of the past thus unable to draw a distictive clear line between them and the rest of Japan at war at the time as well as the Japan of today. Without absolute clarity on who the "bad guys" were they remain very much liable to take everything onto themselves. Thus why some would say they hate being Japanese while others would be inclined to dispute the actual degree of atrocities committed. Also why the class A war criminals convicted at the Tokyo war trial are worshiped in Yasukuni alongside others who fought and died during the war.

This only helps the LDP and Ishin get more votes. What is China thinking.

Saidani: Don't know much about how things are in China where these kanjis originally come from, but at least in Japan creation of new kanjis is quite unheard of. Katakanas are most often applied for any new terminologies invented domestically or imported from elsewhere.

Don't think there to be that many who denies the need for sufficient public spending for construction work necessary for disaster prevention following 311 and the recent tunnel incident. What is deeply troubling however is that construction appears to be pretty much the only clear initiative the LDP is able to clarify as to how the trillions of yen to be newly printed is going to be spent, which in essence is nothing other than a return to pre-Koizumi LDP politics. While this initiative should greatly help them secure the regional votes which appears to be already showing, sincerely hope other parties critical of this approach are able to secure enough urban votes so as to enable them to put on the breaks when necessary. Also hope Hashimoto dumps Ishihara and ties up with Your Party after the election which in my view is what he should have done in the first place.

Should have been 島 (island).

With all due respect to his courage and determination to take a stand at his age, two of his remarks strike me as rather troubling: Expression of guilt only towards his war buddies who died during battle and none towards his enemies and civilian victims and his suggestion to increase the leadership role of the emperor. Maybe taking his brief comments out of context but the latter in particular appears to be even more radical than any of the hawkish politicians he is criticizing.

Normally it is not a good thing to allow the opportunity for suspects of multiple murders to kill themselves, but this case may not apply in that it should facilitate other suspects who were all under her mind control to open up and hopefully confess the details.

Never a bad thing for kids to be cautious than not. We should accept incidents like this to happen every once in a while and continue to prioritize safety.

As with financial institutions there should be a black list to be shared by social network providers of those who harm public interest.

Don't think the nation is prepared to have majority agree to changing the constitution through a referendum at this time. At least not at the top of the priority list.