BakabonPapa comments

This takes getting "dolled up" to a whole new level.

It's the economy, stupid!

The fish is probably no more dangerous than before the triple meltdown, and the act of eating it is inconsequential. The real problem is that Kishida and the LDP have no clear plan or honest desire to wean Japan off of fossil fuels or nuclear power.

Only very rarely do these mega events bring real economic benefit; they almost always run in the red (yet help line the pockets of certain parties). Read "Circus Maximus" by A. Zimbalist (2016).

The US military is notorious for dumping toxic chemicals in and around its bases, not to mention other polluting activities (read "Poisoning the Pacific" by J. Mitchell (2020)). It hardly cares about its own people - why would anyone expect it to care about the civilians of other countries?

This twisted, exploitative, system - ostensibly beneficial for Japan's SE Asian neighbor countries and people - is merely an LDP / Nippon Kaigi tool for ensuring that people from such countries will not comprise a significant piece of Japan's permanent immigration pie chart (i.e., that they will soon leave after supplying cheap labor and paying taxes).

This kind of thing was a major problem at Woodstock '99 - women in the crowd getting groped and grabbed. When the conditions are right, someone's going to go for it. There's always someone.

What an archaic philosophy.

The line between legal and illegal in blue collar crime is blurry at best, so I wouldn't assume that Ghosn is 100% innocent, but it seems that the Nissan executives dishonestly used the police (i.e., the state) to do their dirty work and flush him out of their company.

Some truck drivers are okay, but in general they are among the most dangerous drivers on the highways. Higher speed limits for trucks = more highway deaths. Period.

Wow - talk about "Heart of Darkness." The state should give up...and abolish the death penalty.

The LDP-led government could spend more public money on elderly care support...but it has other priorities, like subsidies for major corporations that donate to its campaigns and encourage their employees to vote for LDP candidates, big pork-barrel projects like Maglev, and of course building up the military to prepare for fighting China over some rocks.

Unfortunately, this is an example of typical Olympics behind-the-scenes shenanigans. It happens every time. It's also an example of typical LDP politician behavior. It's one reason why Japan's big corporations prefer the LDP over other parties.

Japan's government - under the LDP - is too stingy with public money regarding social services that would help prevent people from having to care for elderly spouses, parents, and other relatives, often in isolation. The ruling party politicians have plenty of money to pay for private care for their own elderly relatives, so they don't really care about this matter - they just pay lip service to it from time to time.

Either way, tainted water has no doubt been leaking from the site for more than a decade. (And who knows what went on before the triple meltdown?)

For most residents of Japan the main issue now is the soaring cost of living. Next, perhaps higher taxes and government cuts in social welfare (alongside hikes in military spending), and the wimpy yen. And of course, there's climate and environment. The birthrate problem ranks low on most people's worry lists.

The global food production system is in danger - ironic, in that it is a major cause of climate change and environmental destruction.

First of all, more people should vote in elections, and they should stop casting votes for wealthy, career politicians, especially those of the LDP variety. Then perhaps the government will do things like initiate progressive taxation, make childcare cheaper and more available, and make public university education free (like in France).

"Kishida has to decide when the government will increase tobacco and other taxes to fund part of the increase."

But the gov't sacrifices some revenue by raising tobacco taxes because it owns 33.3% of JT's shares - lower sales generally means lower stock dividends. The gov't should change the law stating that it must own a certain percentage of JT's stocks and sell everything else. Billions of yen could be raised.

A suggestion for a related article:

"Japanese Government Urged to Tackle Inflation, Reduce Wealth Inequalities, and Boost Yen Value to Enable Residents of Japan to Once Again Travel Abroad."

Innocent until proven guilty, of course, but power harassment is a serious problem in Japan's public offices, corporations, and even universities. Give a jerk a little power and he soon becomes a cruel sadist.

Contrary to LDP / Abe faction / Nippon Kaigi belief, the tokkotai pilots were generally brainwashed, bullied and beaten into going on their missions. There was nothing glorious about it. They should be remembered not for their sacrifices but rather as examples of the dangers of fascism and fanaticism and the horrors of war. They were victims.

It's probably real. Everyone knows what the Abe Administration did, and she was at the forefront of that mess.

Really feel for her, and more power to her. She did the right thing. People must not fear the mean, nationalistic, misogynistic cowardly internet trolls who would anonymously try to shame and discredit someone like her.

Not that these people aren't important - or necessary - but isn't the matter of how far an actor is willing to go for an individual project stipulated in the contract, and the contract signed, before shooting starts?

The two sides should probably agree either on (1) joint ownership, or (2) joint administration with no ownership. After all, the real issue is fishing rights. But possession is nine-tenths of the law, and Korea possesses it - and there are the historical problems - so it's a tough one to resolve.

Quite a few people are already abandoning Japan for social and economic reasons, which are mainly due to the LDP'S mismanagement and foot-dragging. Legalizing same-sex marriage would have no such effect.

So it's "boost military spending" and "do whatever is necessary to raise the birthrate"? Ha, ha, ha....

Bosozoku are a real nuisance. They race around making noise at night during summer, and the cops don't do anything about it. It would be great if they'd crack down on them, instead of randomly catching people for minor violations from time to time.

Nuclear power is too risky and costly for Japan.