Bogi comments

Fill the streets with some nice outdoor cafes. Can't buy those online.

I find it ironic that consumers of McDonald's would be concerned about what they put in their bodies.

a Japanese embassy official in Beijing, who declined to be named

declined to identify the individual, citing reasons of privacy

Am I missing something here? What's with all the secrecy?

A non-American perspective.

I can see how Beyonce would be up there, but Lebron James? Is this really a "world" ranking?

Well, I guess I'm watching it then.

Love u Mao-chan.

THANK GOD! If not for that stroke of luck, she'd be dead now.

I have a daughter of similar age and I also feel relieved to see her home safe every evening. What a terrible world we live in.

That statistic doesn't mean too much.

Actually, it does. Of course, there are exceptions when a team loses despite having more shots, but I think you'll find that teams that outshoot their opponents by a 3:1 ratio generally win. I've been watching the Japan national team play for over 20 painful years now, and this is a common theme. I doesn't matter how well you play, if you don't shoot, (basically) you can't win.

I WISH more cars like that would get stolen. Maybe that would wake up some people.

er... I don't.

I think it's too late for Japan. Conservative thinking, old business practices and inability to change (quickly) simply don't cut it in the new global economy.

Good on ya, Virginia!

I must admit it was my misreading of the headline that brought me to the story, though...

Handshake events. Where under-age girls meet unknown men who have paid money to touch them. Japan - you never cease to amaze me.

Great. I can't wait to hear her in-depth analysis on all the players and matches. No doubt we'll get some fascinating input from Smap or Arashi members in the studio, too!

@JoshuYaki

You are SO WRONG. You obviously haven't been to a PM concert lately. He tours for his fans now, and he ALWAYS puts on awesome concerts. He certainly does not need the money.

I feel sorry for him.

I feel sorry for you.

1,500 yen for McD'S?? What a joke.

The average starting salary for a salaried worker (4 year university graduate) is 180,000 yen. For an 8-hour day at an average of 23 days a month, that works out to be 978 yen an hour. Even if you consider bonuses and benefits, they still wouldn't get anywhere near 1,500 yen. If we are talking about general pay rises in all fields, fair enough. But do we really want to live in a society where the guy flipping burgers at McD's makes more than your child's school teacher? C'mon, let's be realistic.

Despite giving her permission to take paid leave (it's the law), her superiors definitely would NOT have approved of her absence on that day.

I think it's silly that so many parents feel the need to attend school events, particularly for children in high school. For the first day of high school in Japan, students don't need their mothers, they need their teachers.

@slumdog & HaraldBloodaxe

Your sacastic offers to educate me on some of the annimated films that have existed in the past are not necessary. I have seen them all, and I could make my own list. My original comment alluded to the fact that the percentage of films that are shown at cinemas these days is considerably higher than in the past.

If you would like to disagree with an opinion you see on this website, I suggest you do it in a more respectful manner, if you know how.

You mean like Snow White and Cinderella?

No, I think you know what I mean.

Who remembers the good old days when the most popular films had humans in them?

Many posters here seem to be too focused on the fact that a police car was involved. The real issue is that one of the drivers has broken a traffic law, resulting in deaths, but there is no way to prove who it was. This is a serious flaw in in the system.

In a country as technoligically advanced as Japan, why aren't there red light cameras at intersections? I see cars going through red lights every day!!

I have often thought about this kind of scenario. Unless there are cameras on intersections, there appears to be no way to determine who is telling the truth after an accident.

It's sad that most of the comments on this thread pertain to the small amount of money his family received in the civil case rather than the fact that prosecutors chose NOT to pursue it as a criminal case. I think you are all failing to see the REAL issue here.

That amount is certainly way too low.

Japanese prosecutors had earlier decided not to press criminal charges

It's interesting to see the kind of cases the government deems worthy of pursuit. The manner in which immigration handled this man was clearly wrong, hence the "illegal" verdict. Had the victim been Japanese, my gut feeling tells me prosecutors would have been all over this case, along with the mainstream media.

I'm pretty sure I saw those 5 in a video last night...

Ask random Japanese people in the streets what they think about this and I doubt many (if any) actually care about what the pathetic people of Korea and China get up to.

True, but isn't that because most Japanese people don't really have an opinion about politics in general? Most Japaneses people I know don't vote, rarely express their political views and let their politicians get away with anything. This, to me, is the ultimate waste of a democracy. Seeing a few "crazies" express themselves in public is rather refreshing, regardless of whether I agree with their views.

Hmm, I am not familiar with either of these names or the significance of this headline. Not familiar with the Josei Seven magazine, either. Yawn.

Thanks for letting us all know about the stuff you don't know about. In the time it took you to write the comment, an internet search would have told you that both individuals are very famous actors and the magazine is one of the biggest selling in the country - about half a million copies a week I think.

I just knew this would be swept under the rug after a few days. This old fool has continued to embarrass the nation and he gets away with it. The apathetic response by the Japanese people is more disgusting than the actual remarks. Head of the Tokyo Organizing Committee? What a joke.

She came out and gave the performance of her life in the free skating. Very admirable.

If Mori is allowed to stay in his position, shame on the whole country.

And the sad thing is that it's not even that good.

Thank you JT for bringing us highlights of a once semi-popular talent's blog. Riveting stuff.

Rock 'n' Roll!