beowulf comments

As a long time Nadeshiko Japan watcher I saw this coming from about three years ago. They are still the most technically proficient women's team in the world, but they are slow on the ball and seem frightened to put the ball in the box. Their movement in the final third was poor in the world cup and it has not improved.

To make matters worse they have been defensively frail at this tournament. The first goal they conceded against Australia was just terrible marking, which is something I do not associate with them. The reason they made the final last year was their defending, though in the final they were poor.

I also have no idea why Rumi Utsugi is not playing in this tournament. She is tall, strong and skillful, easily Japan's best midfielder, but she is playing in France at the moment.

I have got tremendous respect for Sasaki, but he should have retired at the end of the last World Cup. They just need a change of coach to breathe some fresh air into the team. I hope they go with Takakura.

I suppose the only good thing in all of this is that Watami are finding it more and more difficult to find workers. A university friend of mine told me straight that she would never work for any izakaya connected to Watami due to the bad press they have been getting.

With the declining population and jobs becoming easier to find I hope that in the future companies will be unable to treat people so terribly, because workers will just walk out on them and find another job.

"To my surprise, she engaged easily in English conversation and I even questioned whether she was 100 percent Japanese, which made us both laugh."

Am I the only one who cringed when reading the above sentence? I know Japanese people do not perhaps have the best record when it comes to learning English, but c'mon.

Other than that I am glad Hagiuda is doing something she likes and succeeding.

Three percent is not enough, but at least it is a start.

A twenty percent rise would actually make a difference.

I would like to know the driver's actual blood alcohol level. If she had been really drunk I daresay she would also have been charged with driving while drunk. Basically that charge is normally reserved for people who leave the bar and get straight into their car.

Absolutely nothing.

They all have very nice legs, but Anna Tsuchiya's legs are exquisite.

I tend to think Japanese women have very nice legs in general.

Despite all the naysayers I would be very surprised if 13% was accurate. If we just take high school kids that is around 170000 girls doing enjo-kosai right now apparently.

If Ms Boer-Buquicchio has been informed by people in Japan that it is still a problem, along with underage prostitution and human trafficking then she should definitely raise public awareness. But she should not use unsubstantiated facts, because it just gets in the way of fixing the actual problem.

Case in point is this article which is focusing on misreporting of facts as opposed to the problem of enjo-kosai. A problem which is nowhere near as bad as what it was fifteen to twenty years ago. But nonetheless it is a problem.

微量 = minuscule

She now loses her job and her career over traces of cocaine.

Actors get screwed in this country. Everybody has an agency contract and if you break that contract, good luck trying to regenerate your career.

Westerners often say that Asians "all look the same", but just look at this photo. There is such a contrast between them all.

I would like to add that they all look very nice.

If you can afford to stay in hospital for a little bit longer I really do believe it is beneficial. I had surgery last month in Japan and I was in hospital for a week. What I liked about it was that I was able to talk to the doctor and the nurses on a regular basis about anything that was worrying me after the surgery. It was reassuring and I was able to relax without having to worry about anything else.

If I had had similar surgery in Australia I would have been discharged on the same day maybe with a stay overnight and would have been left to fend for myself at home. Based on my experience that would not have been ideal because I live by myself.

About thirty years ago kids used to walk and ride to school in Australia. I know this because I did it from the age of six. I do not know why this has changed, but I do think it has a lot to do with the media and its ability to make the world a frightening place.

I am not sure whether Japanese kids are more independent than their foreign counterparts, but in some facets of their lives they appear to be, eg. cleaning the school, serving lunch and walking to and from school to name but a few. But you know it is all relative.

It was from Twitter, so here for everybody's edification:

SEALDsという学生集団が自由と民主主義のために行動すると言って、国会前でマイクを持ち演説をしてるが、彼ら彼女らの主張は「だって戦争に行きたくないじゃん」という自分中心、極端な利己的考えに基づく。利己的個人主義がここまで蔓延したのは戦後教育のせいだろうと思うが、非常に残念だ。

https://twitter.com/takaya_mutou/status/626788645379280896

I had been led to believe that a lot of Youtube performers make most of their money by surreptitiously promoting products in their videos. If you ever see a Youtube performer say they like a particular product or have been using a particular product in one of their videos, then they have probably been paid a couple of thousand dollars to say so.

@HongoTAFEinmate

It was a list by foreigners.

Most people when coming to Japan for the first time do not stray too far from the Tokaido Line. Who can really blame them, because it has an awful lot to offer.

I love Kyushu, Hokkaido, Tohoku and Shikoku, but I would not recommend those areas to people who are coming to Japan for the first time, because the good parts of those areas are a little bit off the beaten track and do not have the same level of tourist infrastructure compared to Kanto and Kansai for foreigners.

Yes, Kagoshima, home to an active volcano that has already erupted 500 times this year. Seems a good place to re-open a nuclear plant. I mean, what could go wrong?

Yes, and at over 70kms away it is a major threat to the nuclear power station. I live 20kms from an active volcano, and guess what? Life goes on.

Perhaps they should pay temp workers more money, which would then encourage companies to employ them full-time. Temp and casual workers in Japan have fewer benefits than their full-time counterparts and receive lower pay, which seems backwards to me.

It would be wise for Muto to go to Mainz. He would probably get loaned out at Chelsea or see very little playing time. He looks like a very good player, but still needs to develop, which he will be able to do at Mainz. If he fulfills his potential he may well end up in England.

Frungy, you make a very sound and logical argument. But the plaintiff's case smacks of vindictiveness, opportunism and greed.

In the end no matter how much money they are awarded it will not bring back their son. I hope all the money makes them happy.

I wish they advertised this better, because for five minutes at 0130 in the morning it is pretty funny.

I hope she makes another series.

I miss gyaru.....:(

In a country where pale skin is seen as the ideal of beauty I always like to see women bucking the trend in any form and gyaru were very much bucking the trend. Obviously I prefer women to go for a more natural look, but what is a more natural look?

I would argue that Japanese women with their "pale skin" probably go to just as much trouble to maintain it as gyaru did to create their look.

If I read another person writing that japan is becoming like China or a fascist dictatorship I think I will explode. Do people actually know what a fascist dictatorship looks like? Go check out Spain, Germany, Russia and Japan in the 1930's and then get back to me if you think Japan is anything like that today.

The Japanese media has certainly toned it down over the last couple of years, but to say it is like China is fallacious to say the least. I would prefer a tougher media and I find that the Abe and his administration do get an easy ride, but comparing it to China....China has the largest recorded number of imprisoned journalists and cyber-dissidents in the world. When was the last time a journalist went to prison in Japan?

As far as I know we can still access any website on the internet whenever we like. We watch television without having to worry about the screen being blacked out. and contrary to popular belief we can watch movies that criticise Japan legally in this country. They might not always gain distribution at a cinema, but they are always available at video libraries and online.

I live in a small rural town in Tohoku with very few apartments. I am presently looking for a place to rent, but there is only one apartment available in the entire town of 15,000 people. However, there are about twenty homes up for sale with most of them ranging in price between 300万 and 600万; the homes are so cheap. However, nobody wants to rent their home. it is quite frustrating because I would much rather live in an old house than an apartment any day.

Given how often dubious results are discovered in science papers I find a criminal complaint against Obakata to be beyond the pale.

Science has this specious image of truth and uncompromising research, but it is pretty much like any other industry where there are a lot of people who are willing to do almost anything to get ahead. Getting published in an important science journal is necessary to get ahead these days. Retractions have also been on the rise for the last decade and the main reason for those retractions comes from poor ethical judgements.

I like Spalletti. If they could get him that would be a real coup. Currently AC Milan are also looking at him to change their run of bad form.

I believe that Japan should not relent regarding rice. Other than an assortment of vegetables rice is about the only the thing the Japanese actually eat that is produced in Japan. I am exaggerating of course, but sixty percent of their diet is imported these days.

A nation has to produce some of its food to survive, which means farming has to be protected. It sucks for other industries, but food is really important. It would also be nice if Japan at least tried to overhaul its farming industry, but I do not think it is going to happen anytime soon.

An aside note: I am curious to know what the percentage of workers on American farms are actually American and how much that percentage contributes to the more affordable rice they produce. I do not know the answer to that I am just curious.

People come back to Japan every year for the snow, which is just amazing. I mean I moved here for the snow.

Japanese television is like most television the world over. It has its good points and its bad points. I am not overly fond of the dramas or most of the variety shows.

However, I think a lot of their documentaries are really good, especially when they focus on an artist, scientist or sportsperson, because they seem to inbed themselves with the subject. I remember watching a documentary about Mizuki Noguchi leading up to the Beijing Olympics and it showed her breaking down and crying to her coach, because her training was not going according to plan; wonderfully gripping television.

I also tend to think that Japanese television gets better as the night goes on. I mainly watch it from 10pm.

@phlegmatic

How dare you come to Japan Today with a reasoned argument.

Japan has to protect its farming industry as much as possible, but at the same time it would be nice if they would change a few of the laws, so people who are not farmers, but would like to be, could actually buy a farm.

Sony is keeping up with modern technology and if anything it is leading the way when it comes to smartphones, but they really have dropped the ball regarding marketing.

Even here in Japan there just seems to be no advertising.