Bruce Chatwin comments

it is time to understand from independent, non interested sources what works and what doesn't and implement a best way out of this crisis

What independent, non interested sources do you have in mind? A plumber? A heavy duty mechanic? An investment banker? A politician?

I ask because I believe that "interested sources" like virologists, epidemiologists, and immunologists are far better equipped to give effective input than the rabble you seem to be proposing.

I just had COVID for the second time this year... I didn't bother isolating...

So basically, you're advocating for self-centred misanthropy. You certainly appear to be pretty good at it.

Good to see another big drop in cases. Might see less people wearing masks driving, playing tennis etc..

Cases are up from the same day a week ago; today set a record for the number of deaths. Wednesdays appear to have the highest numbers for new cases, possible due to how some prefectures report their data.

I pass tennis courts on my bike on my commute to work every day, and I have not seen any tennis players wearing masks.

Kishida, Kuroda, Kishi, Kono, and the rest of the new daimyo class are completely insulated from the real world and could not care less about the plight of the working masses.

Awa no Gaijin,

Hitachi, the Japanese nuclear reactor maker, is one of the top corporate "donators" to the LDP.

Nope !

Your incorrect.

Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy:

80.01 percent owned by Hitachi

19.99 percent owned by GE

GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy:

60 percent owned by GE

40 percent owned by Hitachi

https://www.nucnet.org/news/ge-and-hitachi-launch-new-nuclear-company

Hitachi owns the company making the reactors.

Hitachi is one of the top corporate "donors" to the LDP.

Note the difference between your and you're. As in you're pedantic.

This is yet another case of Keidanren and corporate influencers dictating government policy.

Hitachi, the Japanese nuclear reactor maker, is one of the top corporate "donators" to the LDP.

Although utility companies stopped direct "donations" to political parties in 1974, executives of nine utility companies made individual "donations" totaling 47 million yen to the Liberal Democratic Party in 2009. There is nothing to indicate that this behaviour has changed. Utility companies reportedly also make political donations to the LDP through their affiliated companies.

"Participants agreed to leave the defense tax plan entirely to me," Miyazawa said.

The arrogance of these LDP oyaji knows knows no bounds.

Yoichi Miyazawa is the son of former justice minister Hiroshi Miyazawa, nephew of former prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa, and cousin of current prime minister Fumio Kishida.

Japan's politicians serve only their own interests. They are the ruling class; they don't give a toss about the plebs.

An informative article by professor of law Muraoka Keiichi outlines how the bureaucratic appointment process for career judges produces conservative-minded benches that exercise little judicial independence:

https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a06803/

This case and the ruling made by the judge in this case suggests that the professor is right on the mark.

How do they appoint these panels? Who appoints them?

According to a Japanese media outlet, 15 people, including lawyers recommended by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, executives of economic organizations, mayors of local governments, and researchers on immigration policy, were selected as members of the panel of experts. Regarding Akihiko Tanaka, president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), who was appointed chairman, the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, which serves as the secretariat, said, "We have selected a person who has specialized knowledge in a wide range of fields."

Judging from this report, it appears that the Immigration Services Agency of Japan chooses and appoints the "panel of experts" though it might be more accurate to describe the experts as stakeholders. Noticeably absent are labour unions and NGOs who are often left to deal with the fallout of the broken system. Also, I assume by "executives of economic organizations" they mean the Chairman of Keidanren and other similar "economic organizations".

Notably there is no mention of the probe investigating the church's links to politicians (or vice versa).

Between 2012 and 2021, public works expenditures amounted to over 70 trillion yen. Public works expenditures of the government's general account budget in Japan for fiscal year 2021 amounted to over 8 trillion yen. The Shin Tomei expressway, being built for a rapidly declining population and a hollowed out manufacturing base, is projected to have a final cost of 7 trillion yen. Use the pork barrel public works funds for the military, if it must be done, but no new taxes.

How many of the lawmakers who visited Yasukuni are also connected to the Unification church? My guess is over 90%.

If the LDP feels so strongly about it, let them and their partners the Moonies pay for the funeral.

Only 2 yens per citizen. Not a big deal.

Until the increase

249 million yen of our money to see Abe off….sheesh!

It was announced earlier today that the government (the LDP) is spending an additional 1.4 billion yen of taxpayer money to pay for the security for Abe's state funeral which brings the total cost to the taxpayer to over 1.6 billion yen (+/- 10 million USD).

If the LDP wants a funeral for its former leader, they should pay for it with party funds instead of forcing taxpayers to foot the bill.

The government has just announced that it is allocating an additional 1.4 billion yen to pay for the security for Abe's state funeral which brings the total cost to the taxpayer to over 1.6 billion yen (+/- 10 million USD).

What is going to happen to Kishida's approval rating when the public realizes that they are on the hook for over 1.6 billion yen for Abe's state funeral? The majority of the people are opposed to the funeral and it has no clear legal basis.

There is no mention of how many of the record 50,975 women in teaching positions at public and private universities are part-time workers. I wager it is in the neighbourhood of 75%.

From the government that still insists on using faxes, floppy disks, and hanko, a world-class example of over-reach and coercion. Need a digital vax passport from the J authorities? Not possible unless you get the My Number card (the one with the picture and IC chip which needs to be renewed every 5 years).

I had it recently but didn’t register.

Same for me.

Absolutely pathetic. Just for comparison, the minimum wage in BC, Canada is 1,600 Yen/hour. In the UK it is 1,500 Yen/hour. In Spain it is 1,050 Yen/hour. The dynastic politicians that rule Japan are completely out of touch with the ordinary people.

Meanwhile, Japan is on the sidelines doing squat.

The RCEP groups the 10 ASEAN states -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- as well as Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

Let's take a look at some of the signatories to the agreement:

Brunei: absolute monarchy / authoritarian regime

Cambodia: authoritarian regime

Indonesia: deeply flawed democracy / kleptocracy

Laos: authoritarian regime

Malaysia: deeply flawed constitutional monarchy / kleptocracy

Myanmar: authoritarian regime

the Philippines: deeply flawed democracy / kleptocracy

Singapore: flawed democracy

Thailand: hybrid regime (still essentially a military dictatorship)

Vietnam: authoritarian regime

China: authoritarian regime

And then Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

What could possibly go wrong?

I still have not received my vaccination coupon. The Japanese bureaucracy is shockingly incompetent...except when it comes to hitting you up for taxes.

@Zaphod,

In one breath you say,

thanks for the unbiased, non-hysterical choice of words, journalist.

and in the next

do realize that you are part of a huge experiment

Seriously?

Japan could've used a certain drug starting with "I" to protect and treat people against this disease, but there's not enough money to be made from it. Lives be damned.

USFDA: Why You Should Not Use "I" to Treat or Prevent COVID-19

https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19

I have to wonder if the international attention this article is getting will have any effect on the politicians and bureaucrats so ineptly running the country.

Katsuya Takasu, an outspoken plastic surgeon, outspoken outrageously racist rants. Shame can’t start a petition to stop his ignorant hate talk, wouldn’t have to pay people to sign that.

You can, however, go on his Twitter feed and tell the Twitterverse what a bell-end he is:

https://twitter.com/katsuyatakasu

Thank you Tetsushi Sakamoto for the vacuous rhetoric.

BTW Tetsushi, could you please share some concrete examples of the countermeasures you are implementing?

Tetsushi Sakamoto is reportedly affiliated with the revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi, as well as being a member of a group connected to Shintō Seiji Renmei .

I think people in Osaka are starting to stop caring. Fewer people wearing masks, the bar next to my building even just started doing business again. People are sick of the overblown panicking

As someone who lives in Osaka, I think the people are sick of bureaucratic ineptitude at every level of society. People in Osaka are getting sick and dying at a rate greater than anywhere else in Japan. A lot of us are sick of uninformed blowhards telling us everything is OK.