blocpartymuse comments

Such blatant racism. Japanese people can go in and out of the country while foreigners have to jump through all kinds of hoops and bureaucracy. Shame on the government.

Very nice, well-written review.

Shameful, shameful publicity stunt.

I want to know what will happen to the holiday on December 23rd every year (Emperor's birthday), and if a new holiday will be added to accommodate the new emperor's birthday.

Let's hope we get both!!

Went and had a free burrito there for lunch. Didn't have to wait in line at all at 1pm. Plus they have free chips and guacamole going around with great staff working there, too. Nothing but good things to say.

"ANA becomes the first airline to operate direct flights daily between Japan and Mexico..."

Wrong. Aero Mexico (SkyTeam) has offered this same route for quite some time now.

"Strong, smart, and speed." I'm not sure what is to blame for this awkward motto consisting of 2 adjectives and a noun- Rakuten's failed attempt at "Englishnization," or the marketing communications team.

Man, that WOULD totally suck to be stuck in an elevator after a big earthquake. Especially if it was crowded. I would probably lose it.

Seems like a cool guy. Decent beers (too much hops in the whole product line for me to say "great beers"), but seems like a great company to work for!

Used Terminal 3 last week for the first time for a cheap 3 day weekend in Hong Kong...convenient flight schedule, but wow...it felt like I had found the ghetto of Japan.

This is happoshu, not real beer.

Shinsei Bank only charges 4000 yen flat...doesn't matter how much the transfer is. Much cheaper than 1% if you are transferring any kind of substantial sum.

Great idea that all companies in Japan should follow. Granted it's my decision to live and work in Japan, the ridiculous inflexibility of Japanese working culture is by far my biggest complaint of life here.

Mukashi...you're basically asking, "Does it contain salt?" Of course it does, but read any recent study of MSG and you will find the health risks that were reported in the 80s or 90s were completely unfounded.

Finally, do you live in Japan? I guarantee you are consuming MSG every day. MSG is "Ajinomoto" essentially, so good luck avoiding that if you are living here.

This issue was covered in detail in "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande. An excellent read that I can highly recommend.