blimp comments

I used it quite extensively when I was younger. Benefitted both from the non-consecutivety and being able to split the ticket among friend, or anyone else for that matter. Now, I haven't used it for a number of years. Last time was probably close to 25 years ago, but to me this is a disappointing development indeed.

Still have the complete JR time table book/booklet somewhere. An old one of course.

As it was mentioned a couple of times, all the Nordic countries do not require residents (irrespective of nationality) to carry an ID or passport. The police can detain you for the purpose of identification, but they can do that in regard to a national as well.

The asking for passport/Residence Card is a bit of a grey zone (IMHO). The police can always ask and request, but for shokumu shitsumon 職務質問 the police must have sufficient probable cause to suspect that the person has committed or is about to commit a crime. It could be argued that if the police doesn't have that the request can be ignored.

I wonder what they will do with the validity period of the My Number card. My number card is valid for 5/10 years, while my insurance card is only valid for two years. Will I have to get a new My Number card every second year?

Working fairly close to the central administration I must say that they are, in my opinion, the entity that is ignoring the Government's (hypocritical) efforts to create something resembling a proper work-life balance. Not that it is the fault of the individuals.

It is perhaps prudent to point out that the so called bike lanes are not exclusive for bicycles. The blue paint and the 自転車専用 in itself mean absolutely nothing. Motor vehicles are legally, both de jure and de facto, allowed to drive in them, park in them and stay/stop in them! There might be traffic signs making it illegal to do so, but that would apply to the complete road/street, and is noting that is regulated by a "bike line" sign.

No parking unfortunately mean very little as it not only possible to load and off-load (as it standard in many other jurisdictions, but also as long as you can speedily move the motor vehicle you are not 'parked', That's why as long as you sit in the car you are not parked. That is also why you see traffic wardens stop what they are doing if the driver comes back while they are about to apply the law.

Furthermore, even when there is no staying/stopping, as long as you sit in the motor vehicles traffic wardens will not do anything. Yes, I have checked with them and a few wards authorities. That leaves us with the police, and they do *+#% (insert swear word of choice) all.

All-in-all, 'bike lanes' in Japan are a joke.

Japan does not impose tariffs on cars, EV or not.

Conversely, the EU and UK slap 10% on all Japanese imports while the USA puts 2.5% on cars built in Japan and a whopping chicken tax 25% on trucks. Not exactly bastions of free market economics.

The first sentence is indeed correct. However, the second paragraph is partially not correct. The EU and the UK have respectively an FTA (EPA) with Japan, under which vehicles of Japanese origin currently have a lower tariff and will eventually have a zero-tariff. I must admit that I don't know for the US-JP FTA.

Yes, the age of consent is 16 years as of last year. Before that it was 13 years. Hence the 1stSgt at the time of the presentation might very well have been correct, including that many prefectures had/have ordinances that made some sexual interactions illegal with anyone under 18 years old.

The poor English aside, keeping to the left of the lane can be dangerous, as it encourages cars to overtake when there isn't room to do so. A safe cyclist knows when to take up the whole lane, as outlined in the UK's Highway Code.

Unfortunately though, this is the law in Japan. While it is not super clear, but you will find it in the 道路交通法 art 17. You have to keep to the left.

I completely agree with you that it is more dangerous to ride close to the kerb/side.

As always, TD1 and TD2 are covered in the same text. This is never a good idea, as treatments, and also diets are (potentially) different.

I am neither a dietist, nor a medical doctor, or anything related, but I must admit that I fail to see that yogurt in itself would reduce the risk of diabetes 2. I can see how you can reduce the risk of diabetes 2 if you eat yogurt instead of something that increases the risk of diabetes 2, for instance large amounts of fat or carbs. Does the few studies done look at people just adding yogurt to their diet, or do they eat yogurt instead of something? Just adding yogurt would increase the calorie intake which usually increases the risk of diabetes 2.

However, as I said, I am not very knowledgeable about diabetes 2.

@Villanova,

Not to question you, but rather just to partially answer the question. Statistics do indeed seem to support your claim that major economies do not have a surplus.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/264710/countries-with-the-highest-public-surplus/

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-top-budget-surplus.html

I do wish they came up with different words for type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

今年こそ as the saying goes.

Perhaps we could get a comparison with countries such as the Nordic countries or the Netherlands. I wonder how Japan would fare then.

Unfortunately the Commission did a rather bad job here.

Some European products still require radioactive testing. Berries, jams, mushrooms etc. The Commission should have pushed for reciprocity.

That's an interesting theory. What disease exactly would people catch from wearing helmets?

You are asking the wrong question. With mandatory law on helmet wear comes lower use of bicycle as a mode of transport.1 With less bicycling comes more obesity, more diabetes, more cardiovascular related impacts, a more dangerous environment for not motor vehicle users, more lung diseases due to worsen environment etc.2 The list goes on and on.

There is a direct correlation between number of cyclist and safety of cyclists.*3

*1 https://www.cycle-helmets.com/index.html

*2 https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/cycling-health-benefits

*3 https://ecf.com/resources/cycling-facts-and-figures/safety-numbers

More reading: https://cyclingindustry.news/discussion-are-helmet-standards-overdue-a-revision/

@thelonius

Why don’t more people put solar panels on their roof in Japan?

Panel makers (Sharp, Kyocera) are protected with import tariffs, making solar panels 2x or more expensive here.

That is factually wrong. There are no import duties on solar panels in Japan. Neither on parts. The closest you get to an import duty is on some of the chemicals and metals used in the manufacturing of solar panels. However, using various FTAs a zero-duty preference can be used.

Reference: Japan Customs. chap 85

There are some that point out that it is a private school. Does this mean that private companies could also set up rules on dating/sexual activities, and to put it even more bluntly, same sex relationships? To me it is just mind boggling that Japan allows this.

In 2007 I visited the LPD for talks with one of their committees. The meeting room which was used had ash trays on the table(s). And, yes, politicians were smoking during the meeting! I should say that these days smoking is not allowed in LDP meeting rooms as far as I know and have experienced.

I am (positively) surprised that so many companies are saying that they will do it.

Looking at the documents from MHLW, it certainly looks like an undertaking.

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/vaccine_shokuiki.html