aomorisamurai comments

"In any normal country the Mob is hunted and outlawed, only here in Japan Yakuza roams freely , makes public announcements and runs business as usual."

"aggressive guy (another stall owner) used to push his way to the front, help himself to goods and snarl at the owner. I was told, it was ok, let him take what he wanted. We were all at a loss what to do, to think this still continues is unacceptable"

Simply put, in the end you get what you tolerate.

I swear, between this article and the one from a few days ago on JT it seems like the media in Japan wants, needs, something to be wrong with this vaccine.

Yes and no, actually.

If you're going to socially distance and enjoy a stroll around, appreciating nature's work? Have fun.

Putting down the tarps/blankets next to complete strangers and getting trashed at a hanami location? Discouraged.

1700 calls / 8 days / 24 hours = that's a call roughly every nine minutes.

Married With Children

@Goodlucktoyou

"Compromise is better than conflict."

CCP: "Nah."

"Millions of Texans remained paralyzed by power and water outages"

"U.S. Senator Ted Cruz flew -- for a family holiday jaunt to the Mexican resort city of Cancun"

All you need to know, right there. 2021's version of "let them eat cake".

There are going to be both pros and cons to this, but the simple fact is this should never have been a thing. Wages should have been keeping up with inflation (I'm going off the top of my head, I'm not an economist).

@didou

Absolutely correct. "Rules for thee, not for me".

"Japan’s mistrust of vaccines is decades old. Many people have a vague unease about vaccines, partly because their side effects have often been played up."

I have a vague unease about how many people hear something, do absolutely no research on it, and take it as gospel.

"More recently, Japan stopped recommending the human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine after media reports of alleged side effects, renewing worries despite the vaccine's widespread use overseas as safe and effective protection for cervical cancer."

Were those "media reports" made to cite their sources? What would Japan do if their media were to suddenly find "alleged side effects" with MMR, polio, or smallpox vaccines?

Speaking as an American citizen...if the Japanese truly understood what kind of health system they have and how little they have to pay, I think they'd gladly go to their check ups.

@bob

"more proof that basic economic literacy, Critical thinking skills, and the phenomena of unintended consequences should be a mandatory course for every young adult."

Not too sure where you're trying to go with this, but throwing people out of their residences en masse over something they can't control doesn't sound like a good idea.

@zichi

"Some chefs are over protective of their dishes."

We used to have a mom-n-pop yakiniku restaurant nearby where the guy was super protective of the meat he served. If you try to alter it in any way, you'd get booted and banned.

That was some of the best yakiniku I have ever eaten.

"That probably would have made for an awkward shift, but instead of clocking in the man, feeling bullied, went home. The incident occurred on Oct 16 and the man hasn’t been back to work since. He’s since been diagnosed with adjustment disorder and is currently on sick leave."

"the 50-something man"

Good God, how has this man not disintegrated from having such fragile skin...

"two political parties that appear to be in no mood for compromise"

I don't understand why this is a thing. There is a Democratic executive branch and Democratic legislative branch (assuming the parties go 50/50 and VP Harris breaks the tie = Democratic).

People went Democrat this time because they're tired of nothing getting done. They're tired of legislation dying on McConnell's desk.

"Do you think the government's Go To Travel campaign was a good idea but the timing was wrong? Or do you think it was bad idea anyway? Did you use it?"

I'm not a Japanese citizen, so no, I didn't use it.

Bad idea? it was a terrible idea with terrible timing.

Hong Kong and Xinjiang province are just the beginning. I'm not trying to scaremonger, but If you think they're going to stop, you have your head in the sand.

They're going to eventually try for Taiwan and to make their ridiculous claim on the South China Sea a reality, the other nations' claims be damned. They're playing games with the LoAC, India, and all that fresh water. One day they're going to try for the Senkakus and as much of the Sea of Japan as they can take.

If I was a cop in Japan, I'd be making my area rich from all the tickets for this nonsense I'd write. It's been my experience here that people generally don't stop for pedestrians; even though they're trained to stop.

I watched a schoolgirl waiting over a full minute to cross a two-lane street (no lights). It was early afternoon, everything and everybody completely visible, no obstructions, no reasons not to stop for her. But no one would.

Is it willful ignorance? Entitlement? Your guess is as good as mine...

Slow news day, eh guys?

"When cabin attendants once again asked Okuno to put on a mask, he became belligerent, shouting and twisting the arm of one of the female staff, inflicting minor injuries."

Don't remember reading this part. He touched the staff? All bets are off at that point.

The Japanese government may not have started the fire, but they certainly fanned the flames. They got up on the stage and told the world with a straight face that everything was fine and that they had it under control and no foreign assistance was needed.

Only when it got really bad did they admit that it was nowhere near being under control and that they, indeed, needed assistance.

There are a lot of people up here, been up here their entire lives...and still have no idea how to prepare for and deal with driving in ice, snow, and/or poor visibility.

As a parent, I've never understood how this happens. Where did he think his 2 year old was? 2 year olds make noise and get into things. Suddenly having that period of silence wasn't suspicious? The kid just somehow managed to slip his mind for 7 hours? Come on.

In those 7 hours that child would have required some form of care (diaper change, bottle, being held, tucked in for a nap). Having seven straight hours of uninterrupted work time in the house didn't seem a bit off?

I'm not too well read in on "who did what" regarding this entire matter, but weren't there agreements in both 1965 and 2015 to put an end to this? Were the comfort women actually compensated for what they were put through? Where did all of that money go?

I'm damn glad to hear that the corporations are doing just fine. /s

Now tell the about how the local mom and pop stores and restaurants fare...

"He may have relied too much on the outdated automatic pilot that has ruled the country since the end of the war"

I've said it before on here, I'll say it again: "The solutions of the 1950s aren't going to solve the problems of the 2020s."

I'm well aware of how much power the average citizen doesn't have here, but how is everyone okay with an economy that's been sputtering for 30 years? The political scandals? The almost willful ignorance of a virus that's slowly making its way around the country and a government that doesn't seem too keen on doing anything about it?

I know there aren't too many alternatives here, but I wish the Japanese would wake up to this BS and stop being nice and polite about it and start getting mad as hell. These fossils are going out in opulence, what's going to be left for the masses?

One of the founders of Facebook lamented the damage social media has wrought on the fabric of our society. Think about that.

Other than that, I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. The formation all of these bubbles and echo chambers is astounding.

Work is work. If you're on the clock, you should be paid for it.

@smithinjapan

"This is interesting... the American military will be the only ones safe to go out drinking in Okinawa."

Not quite...even after vaccination, it's still "masks/distancing/hand washing" and no bars. The rules don't change immediately after getting it.

It was quite the ride with a nice, violent jolt right in the middle.

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