Bungle comments

Next month’s rations: two rolls of single-ply toilet paper.

Clearly Japan’s response to this pandemic is to PR the virus away.

More to the point: the kind of people who idols appeal to s̶e̶l̶f̶-̶a̶b̶u̶s̶e̶ self-isolate as a matter of course. They most likely never even had a cold sore and are probably the most virus-free members of society.

What about Japanese permanent resident holders that hold other passports?

If you travel abroad, don’t expect to come back any time soon.

There is bound to be a silver lining down the line; just wait and see.

Well, I got promoted to assistant professor. Still waiting to see if I’m filling the boots of someone who passed away from corona virus.

On a different site, Tokyo reported 78 positive cases today, another ominous record for 1 day. PM Abe, quit dragging your feet!

Nah, just quit.

Link to LINE / MEXT questionnaire announcement here (Japanese):

https://linecorp.com/ja/pr/news/ja/2020/3148

Slightly off-topic, but I recently received a MEXT questionnaire through LINE enquiring about the corona virus. It seems that Japanese government are encouraging people to self-report. It will be interesting to see what their statistics reveal.

Thats ageism! Think: Mugabe

Thanks for proving my point!

God help us, the human gaffe machine is on deck.

Aso is prone to outbreaks of foot-in-mouth disease. All the more reason for him to retire ant take up playing go.

Aso is almost eighty years old. He should have been put out to pasture years ago.

If her position is ceremonial, she should just come out and say it. I’m sick of this mealy-mouthed cowardice.

This woman is utterly useless. What does she do exactly, except to say: “Sorry but I can’t”?

years ago, a girl in a club asked me what i liked. i told her shimura ken. she asked me to tell a shimura ken joke. i refused multiple times. she insisted and wouldn't leave me alone.

so i looked at her deadpan and said "im thirsty for mango juice" in japanese... a classic shimura gag...

instantly she slapped me across the face and not in a joking manner.

Reads like Doc Daneeka’s newlywed story!

Currently, there is some debate that BCG could be an effective vaccine against Covid-19.

Take it with a pinch of salt. I’ve had both BCG and COVID-like symptoms.

Here in Australia, people are cottoning onto the fact that Japan may not be a trustworthy country, putting them in the same basket as China when it comes to transparency and trustworthiness.

Right. Abe & Co are wearing their credibility around their ankles and unless they are seen to take responsibility and get a grip of the situation - and fast - this sorry episode will reflect badly upon Japan Inc.

However, I never liked the skits with pan-kun the chimp. Always felt sorry for him (pan-kun) and how people thought watching the antics of a chimp in human clothes & human situations was funny. Sadly so did Pan-kun as he almost killed an assistant trainer.

One could almost say he went ape.

The time to pull up the drawbridge and close the airports was two months ago. By now the COVID threat is domestic, and yet the Japanese government seem reluctant to address this. Why?

One of the VERY few Japanese comedians who was actually funny. RIP

Indeed. Only Shimura and Matsuko Deluxe regularly make me chuckle.

You can bet that after much deliberating and sucking of teeth, Abe will act decisively to set up another committee.

Contracted while on shore in Japan?

This seems to be a bit of a non-sequitur since flight attendants can't wear high-heeled (which for me means the stiletto type) shoes because a) you can't make a hasty evacuation wearing such shoes, and b) there is a risk that they will puncture the inflatable slides.

It's not just the lack of testing, though. There is literally no policy, - national or local - to deal with those domestic workers who are reporting cold and flu like symptoms. Unless you have been abroad recently, the expectation is that you will turn up for work. Of course the virus is rampant! How would it not be?

But if they are rampant, where is the concomitant death toll?

Buried under Japan's testing and incidence statistics.

I have a sore throat and a mild cough but no temperature- feel it is just getting started,

Same, kurisu. As yet, no fever.

Japanese news is reporting an outbreak of corona virus in my very neighbourhood, and yet on a national level the response is one of denial. Crazy to think that within a couple of weeks I may be struck down. You'll get more truth from my blog than Japanese news outlets.

Meanwhile in Japan ....

When Abe and Koike finally get permission to cancel the Olympics, Alcatraz will look like an open prison next to Japan. Watch this space...

Reads like a playboy article.

It can only aspire to Playboy. More Razzle methinks.

I reckon a male colleague stumbled upon them going for it, then he grassed them up when she wouldn't let him have a go.

if someone had come in with an emergency, they would have had to wait for the sergeant to pull out and the pair to get dressed

That's unusually graphic for JT! How'd it make it past the censors?

Japanese companies lament the current lack of Chinese coolies, Philippine peons and Burmese bondsmen. Toyotomi and Tokugawa are still very much alive.

...for me Japan’s approach has worked for Japan,

For pity’s sake, we don’t know if it has worked at slowing/stopping the progress of the disease because JAPAN IS NOT TESTING!

Yes, with good fortune we will escape the worst of it, but it will be months before we can say “Japan’s approach has worked” - if at all.