Baibaikin comments

@seriously Does the US really separate church and state? In God We Trust, and all that.

As @semperfi points out, Japan is indeed a sovereign nation that is honoring its war dead. China is a bully that should practice what it preaches.

What's made of rubber and slides down the window? - Condomsation.

Echoing @Graham de Shazo's comment, I assume they will be under the umbrella of the Ministry of Silly Walks.

Vapid.

@doedel. Completely agree. It makes more sense to make the crossing temporarily unavailable to traffic.

1 million dollars. Halting payments sounds perfectly reasonable if there is suspicion that the money isn't going where it should.

"Warner’s newest tentpole franchise...”

Interesting jargon. Never heard 'tentpole' used like that. I assumed it was the computer graphics giving the otaku fans a tentpole.

There are lots of people just like him in the first ten rows of any AKB48 concert.

@Honest. Glad to hear that the eco-friendlier Prius is selling well in your state, but is your '40-45%' just based on your experience, or does it reflect actual Prius ownership?

Nope. It's good manners. However, I've had the evil eye on a number of occasions when I gave up my seat on crowded trains for women who I thought were pregnant, but were actually just a bit podgy around the midriff or wearing maternityesque clothing. Those incidents all made me question the validity of my chivalry in Tokyo, where the attitude seems to be 'if I don't know you, you aren't there'.

Wow. Triple digits, lucid and still enjoying beef stew. I'd like to try out extreme old age if my DNA is as hardy. Happy birthday Okawa san.

Business etiquette training for young, new recruits in a Japanese company should include the art of the firm handshake when meeting handshaking foreigners. Limp, feeble attempts at a handshake don't create a good impression.

Hakodate's night view.

@NathalieB This may be significant in Catholic circles as you point out, but for non-Catholics and victims of sexual abuse that has effectively been sanctioned by the church, it's as empty a gesture as, say, prayer, in that nothing changes. By itself the proposed sainthood may be intended as a celebration of a heroic action in the past, but in the big scheme of things the church has clearly demonstrated that it isn't willing to protect its flock from sexual predators.

@TheOriginalWing Sure, but creating a saint doesn't really consititute 'work towards stopping it from happening again' in my mind. What I would prefer to see is the Catholic church handing over paedophile priests to the authorities, rather than shuffling them from parish to parish or protecting them in other ways.

While I don't doubt that Schraven was a brave man with iron-clad principles, I really don't think the Catholics should insult the multitudes of people (=children) that it has abused both physically and mentally throughout its history with a patron saint of abuse victims. It's irony at its worst.

@Onniyama Need I ask what the dessert would be?

“Mike Hopkins taking a special sleigh ride on this Christmas Eve,” Mission Control commentator Rob Navias said as the space station soared over the Pacific.

These guys get all the good lines. I'd be surprised if they are complaining about having to work at Christmas.

Most guys shovel their food into their mouths so fast and so noisily that there is scarcely time to recognise etiquette. Mentioning any of these little known rules in Japanese company will serve only to increase my 'hen na gaijin'-ness.

Best of luck to Ogita san. Having that sense of adventure in what can be such a mundane world is great.

Little vandals. They are probably now aware that their antics weren't worth the very small reward. A vending machine that was set up outside a local sports facility in my neighbourhood in the UK was stolen after a only a few days. The machine, that is, not the contents. Japan's still doing alright.

Lawn-mowing goats are commonplace in the countryside in Britain, but as some of the other posters have pointed out, they are pretty effective destroyers of anything chewable. It's also important not to p1ss them off because they can be quite aggressive.

@gonemad Finally, a sensible, well thought out opinion in contrast to the knee-jerk bank bashing that has accompanied recent news stories.

...whose hits with the Beatles included “Back in the USSR”

関係ない, as they say. Weren't the Greenpeace activists trespassing on a Russian oil platform? Sounds like being home for Christmas wasn't high on their list of priorities.

You'd think the white suits, rolling r's and all the bling would give these gangsters away at the bank counter when they're lining up for a loan.

I'm surprised there's anything still going on in my head after cracking it on the door frame of my tatami room at least once a week for the last ten years.

I'm not going to be able to get Shirley Bassey out of my head all day now.

Agreed. Sounds like a ploy to get punters in the door under false pretences. Let the new show earn its own stripes. Fond memories of watching Murder, She Wrote as a family when I was a kid.

As my knowledge of the assassination amounts to watching the excellent Oliver Stone JFK movie, I find it difficult to choose any of the above with confidence. Perhaps the only thing I can say is that Kevin Costner should be remembered for that film and not Waterworld.

I say full marks for the police officer who foiled the crime, and really hope that the young victim can quickly recover from what must have been a horrific experience.