CarbonLayup comments

I take trains VERY rarely in Japan, and when I do it is always annoying. The only saving grace is when some tasty bird gets on, but with the aging populous, that is becoming a rarity.

^Yeah, while I do agree with a lot of the stuff that has been discussed on here, I am very close to a Japanese woman who has recently retrained as a care assistant, and I resent the comments which claim care work to be a last resort for the lowest skilled in society. The woman I know worked very hard to retrain, and puts absolutely everything she has into her job. So back off with those kind of comments; they are out of order.

I used to enjoy getting the trains here when I was new to the country and knew little about the culture here.

Now I hate it, as it is basically the same as sitting in a sweltering tin can with the most humourless, lifeless people on the planet.

This is not a big deal. Just a sign of how effective globalisation is. It changes nothing. The West will remain the West, and the East will continue playing catch up of our way of life, no matter what colour the people are, involved in either side of the developments.

I have got a great joke about Yoko Ono

^Haha, nice.

213,000yen a month, living in Tokyo. Good luck with that.

CrisGerSan; LOL.

Regarding the article; Good news this! I was at the mass partnering in Brighton in the UK years back and it was a great day for all involved.

Yeah, if the coding giant that is Google can only just get it kind of working, some rubbish Docomo programming is not going to get anything close.

This is going to be absolutely awful.

What the actual what.

This story is full of glaring Japanese-ness.

Yeah, I agree with all the above.

I have worked in Japanese offices for going on 8 years now, and the average worker does very little. They seem to find every single way to stretch the most mundane and simple of task over a giant amount of time, involve as many people as possible, etc., when said task could be done by a single person who actually worked a bit, in a fraction of the time.

The results they are getting are demonstrably rubbish too, given the state of the economy and the take-over of various sectors from foreign business.

And yes, anybody playing this game of overtime to impress the boss is a moron; they will be sacked / laid-off just as quickly, and with seemingly no reason, just like the rest of us.

Well said chooch.

Whatever. Nothing is offensive. We live in post-modern times, and if you can't get with the program, the rest of us are not going to wait for you to catch up.

Those who get offended by things like this, SHOULD be offended.

Whatever. Nothing is offensive. We live in post-modern times, and if you can't get with the program, the rest of us are not going to wait for you to catch up.

Those who get offended by things like this, SHOULD be offended.

Speed has it right. The Japanese have flocked to Facebook.

I am not a fan of Gangnam Style, but that is beside the point, and I feel I am able to still comment.

The Japanese are consciously ignoring it. Why? Because there is not a hope in hell of anything this spontaneous and ironic coming out of Japan's pathetic music industry ever. Sure, they churn out a lot of stuff and it sells, but on the world scale, it is utter throwaway trash. They are creatively anaemic and this is rubbing their noses in it, by the one nation they wish would not.

@sandiegoluv; I will tell you why the Japanese always ask the same questions... because they have absolutely no other frame of reference for anything more interesting.

4000 violations? Ha. I see that many myself every year on my commute, and I only go about 5km. The average Japanese bicycle rider breaks the law every single time they ride their bike. This figure is a massive misrepresentation of the problem.

LOL. Because you can't already do this with Google Translate, right?

No TV Out on this is a major downer. Would be interested other wise...

And that comment about having to type your credit card number in on a mobile device... Haha, that is not how it works. You just sign in once with your Amazon, Rakuten or whatever, and order with 1-click. Simple. I do it all the time.

I am heavily involved in cycling here in Japan, having ridden and raced here for over 7 years.

As an experienced and law abiding cyclist, I can certainly say that I am pretty much in favour of any system that attempts to control the average cyclist in Japan.

On a daily basis, I see things which make me cringe, whilst out on my bike. I ride from morning to night, in all weather, and by far the worst offenders on the roads are the cyclists. Sure, there are cars who come past too close, or pull out on me without looking, but as an experienced rider I get angry, but not killed.

The cyclists on the other hand, reading their phones, earphones in, up the wrong side of the road, pulling out without looking, and generally being utterly pathetic on a bike, really REALLY winds me up.

Bring it on, I say. Nothing they can throw at me to test my skills are going to stop me riding. I just know for a fact though, that if they enforce things correctly, there will be a hell of a lot less dick heads on the road getting in my way.

jessbaybay; someone I know was telling me about this the other day, and I palmed it off as standard gaijin BS trivia. Turns out there may have been some truth in what he was saying!

@Probie: LOL. Using that one!

Didn't see this coming a billion miles off.

Welcome back, Shabu-P.

Good stuff badmigraine.

Again and again and again and again.

@papasmurfinjapan; yeah, exactly. I suppose these kind of people sum up the average Apple user; the are interested in toys, and that is what they get given. The GPS services on any iPhone are pitiful!

I was there. It was very ugly indeed.

How the hell can anybody be bullied on the internet? Ridiculous. Just take an arrogant, cutting stance, and deal immensely bitchy, yet veiled non-compliments back, ridiculing the protagonists use of language and intellect. It is easy, and also great fun to put someone in their place for being a dick.

@chucky7136; ah thanks for the link! Yeah, that is what I witnessed yesterday. Was confused when this report said there were only 70 people. Waaaaaaaaay more than that!