CannondaleCommuter comments

@Supey11-

As far as I've witnessed, Osaka, Wakayama, and Hyogo all stand on the right. Kyoto is part of Kansai, but they stand on the left. Shiga is also a part of Kansai, but I've never taken the train there so I can't say. Hope this helps!

What a bunch of BS! If she were just an ordinary ex-pat working a typical job at a language school, bar, amusement park, or factory, she'd be tried, found guilty, locked up, and deported after serving time. Dropping the case?!? Unheard of in a country that has one of the highest conviction rates in the world!

<>http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/man-stabbed-while-walking-home-in-hyogo <>http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/mans-body-found-in-garbage-bag-in-osaka

And now this. Not a good week for Kansai.

In New Zealand they don't have 1 or 5 cent coins. Instead, they use Swedish rounding of the total price. Takes a little getting used to but it seemed to work.

Tohoku Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said there were no abnormalities at the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

If that's not an oxymoron, I don't know what is!

Before visiting Okinawa, I used to think like most westerners, especially Americans, do- that the bases are a necessary evil several reasons and the economy of Okinawa depends on its love-hate relationship with the bases.

However, after visiting the main island of Okinawa, I must say their vast size and central location was very noticeable and detracted for the the appeal of Okinawa as a tropical destination- military vehicles on the road and in the sky just don't equate a peaceful, tropical paradise for me. I can sympathize with Okinawan's who object to the burden of hosting a US military base.

If the bases were relocated outside of Okinawa, I think the immediate negative economic it would have on businesses that depend on the bases would be more than compensated for by the long term construction and tourism income that would be generated as the island's economy shifted even more towards travel and tourism. Yes, I'm sure tourism already makes up a decent percentage of their economy, but imagine how much more development could happen if all the land the bases occupy were available for development and the military vehicles were no longer an eyesore to Okinawa's beautiful tropical scenery. I can see the wealthy lining up to invest in real estate/vacation homes already.

They joined out of patriotism, but also to prove they are NOT their ancestors, something they felt pressure to do and shame about since some of them had been put in the camps as well (and enlisting was a way out) after Pearl Harbor.

Smith: I'd like to clarify a few points you made. First (and again), it had nothing to do with proving they are not their ancestors or shame of their ancestors, but out of patriotism for their home, America. The only pressure they felt was a duty to prove that they were American, especially because of their circumstances. Second, when you say "some of them had been put into camps" I hope you mean over 94% of all people of Japanese ancestry in the US (120,000 of which two-thirds were US citizens) were forcibly moved to 10 different concentration camps located on US soil and had to give up everything they owned except for what they could carry. Lastly for many of the 442 and 100th battalion , that "way out" you speak of was in a casket.

@Christopher Glenn- You should really keep your comments in the realm of your knowledge. I have never once heard any American of Japanese decent say they joined the 442 out of shame of the birthplace of their parents (isei), but rather they joined out of patriotism for their home, America. Every single one who enlisted were US citizens, born and raised in the USA. Many of them made the ultimate sacrifice, while their parents and loved ones were locked up in concentration camps on US soil. Ponder that.

Yu Shiraiwa disposed of the body sometime toward the end of December 2013, Fuji TV reported Thursday. ...In January, the missing youth’s father contacted police to report his son’s disappearance ...

So sad, but you have to wonder under what (possibly unsavory) circumstances it would take the father over a year to contact the police and report his son missing. Feel bad for the son and the father.

One theory scientists were testing was that the creatures could have had a parasitic infection that disrupted their ability to navigate. Another was that the dolphins’ sonar had become ineffective in the sandy shoals.

<>http://yournewswire.com/dead-dolphins-in-fukushima-stranding-found-with-white-radiated-lungs/

<>http://enenews.com/dead-dolphins-washed-fukushima-entirely-white-lungs-head-scientist-ive-never-before-interruption-blood-supply-leading-tissue-death-disease-linked-radiation-exposure-large-spike-after-chernoby

Dead Dolphins In Fukushima Stranding Found With White Radiated Lungs. How's this for an update and has this been reported in the Japanese media yet?

According to police, Hana had gone to play by the river near her grandparents’ house at around 11 a.m.

Who the heck lets a 2 year old do this?!? Are the flippin out of their minds?

Police believe Kitamura was responsible for all the attacks. The surveillance camera footage of the first attack released by police shows a man resembling Kitamura walking up behind the victim.

I certainly hope the police have more than just video of the first attack they released to lead them to believe they got their man. I mean there were 5 attacks, the last one being at a convenience store, yet the article says nothing about the police having other video footage showing him at any of the other locations at the time of the assaults (let alone actually committing the crime) or any other evidence for that matter. I'll reserve my opinion on Kitamura's guilt or innocence until I hear more about the case the police have against him.

Some food prices up 4-13%. Sales tax up by 3% and another 2% soon. My salary up by 1-2%. Hmm... Hey Abe and co. stop twisting my nipples!

Alien spaceships have never entered Japanese airspace

I'm not so sure about that. I mean have you seen some of the characters riding the subways late at night?

jcapan-

What's next, altering western textbooks that depict the horrid reality of Imperial Japan!?

Not next, already happening if you can believe it. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/16/national/history/japan-asks-u-s-publisher-mcgraw-hill-correct-textbook-references-regarding-comfort-women/#.VMdCr_7kdcQ

describing themselves as “Japanese citizens whose honor and credibility were damaged by the false reports made by the Asahi Shimbun”

The longer and more sternly you deny it, the more shame you bring on yourself and the less creditable you become. I mean really Shoichi Watanabe? You're professor emeritus from Sophia University. Do you know how much embarrassment (to put it lightly) you're bringing upon Sophia Uni and your credibility as a scholar? Why don't you just enjoy your retirement? I know, how about going to Hawaii and preaching your gospel in front of the USS Arizona?