combinibento comments

Who is writing the commentary here? It appears initially to be part of the survey but as I get through the article it becomes obvious that his/her own comments were not from those actually surveyed but rather from his or her own opinions about the places - a couple of which this author commented on while admitting never to have set foot in the place... Next time comments from those that actually responded to the survey would be more interesting and helpful.

LEDs are also commonplace in computers, TV, watches and mobile phone screens.

And let's not forget vehicle headlights - LEDs have made cars look pretty cool lately.

Lay judges will also be given the option of withdrawing from jury duty if they feel they are unable to cope with the presentation of graphic evidence.

Seems to me this would undermine the purpose of the lay judge system, being judged by your peers, etc., and therefore undermine the right to a fair trial. I can predict a certain segment of the population, particularly elderly women like this plaintiff, will simply cite an inability to cope with such photos and then be excused from jury duty. And then you basically have murder trials with juries that are missing a demographic - a demographic that may very well be beneficial to a defendant.

No evidence is presented of anything brewing – which doesn’t prove, however, that nothing is.

Interesting the word "brewing" is used in this sentence, because this type of silly statement brings to mind Bertrand Russell's teapot. (Showing that if he claimed there was a teapot orbiting the sun in outer space, it would be ludicrous for people to believe him simply because they can't prove him wrong.) Bottom line here is that if there is no evidence of a threat, as the author above admits, why even spend the time writing about this bizarre fantasy of ISIS committing crimes against Tokyo?

I have gone pretty much digital only over the past few years out of sheer convenience, although I admit I still like CDs and regret I haven't bought many of them, mainly due to laziness. I have lost countless paid downloads through losing iPods, switching PCs, whatever. So I can understand the Japanese and can't blame them for wanting a physical thing. Also, something to pass onto your kids, unlike your iTunes library, for example. On a side note, with streaming music subscription services and the like, I can't understand for the life of me why places like Tsutaya still flourish... Someone on here will probably enlighten me though.

There had to have been exponentially more than that... Last year I received emails, on two separate occasions, from my kid's elementary school warning all the parents of attempted kidnappings. (Someone drives up to a kid walking home and asks them to get into the car.) And this is in a fairly good neighborhood. Of course I can't count how many times the school has emailed notices of molestations and other sexual assaults...

He didn't apologize for it, he said he was sorry the media reported it. Two very different things.

Good prioritizing, Indonesia. Never mind that 30% of prostitutes in your country are children, "Crayon Shinchan" is a more worthy adversary to the moral integrity of your nation.

The interesting thing that stands out in this story is that we have another Japanese swimmer and Olympic hopeful named "Kosuke." I mean, first Kosuke Kitajima and now Kosuke Hagino... I mean, what are the odds?!

Hope the fans counter-sue the management companies for harassment, malicious prosecution, filing frivolous lawsuits, the whole kitchen sink. What legal basis can the management company possibly have against the fans who had no contractual relationship with anyone and most certainly cannot be called negligent for - gasp - spending time with an idol they idolize (thanks in large part to management's efforts). What nonsense.

I probably assumed we'd have come up with cures for more diseases by now. If you asked me 30 years ago whether I thought, by the year 2014, we'd have cured the cold, cured some cancers, and cured AIDS and the like, I probably would have said, Of Course!

Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizon has done the same thing to his inmates, makes them wear pink. Although it's to humiliate them.

The guy is a perv and he knows it. I know this crowd hates generalizations, but I'll just say it: 99% of the time, when a 40-something year old Japanese guy takes a photo of a female stranger, particularly with a cell phone, there is some lowly prurient interests involved.

Although I do find this part hilarious:

The law...seeks to protect one thing: the safety and well-being of women.

So this is the one time we read about a perp actually getting arrested? For taking "normal" photos? How many times have I read about folks getting suspended sentences for molesting children, taking potty photos of their students, or even killing their offspring... Doesn't seem like "safety and well-being of women" is really that much of a priority.

with just one buyer at a major electronic retailer in Tokyo.

That's why it's called xBox ONE.

It just boggles the mind how lenient the law is towards sex offenders, and how forgiving employers are, particular those employers who pay this man to teach the very class of individuals he victimizes. It's one thing to hire a sex offender as a truck driver but as a schoolteacher? I'm sure everyone involved in slapping his wrist for the first offense is shocked, just shocked he did it again!

Former NFL player Bob “The Beast” Sapp

It's awful generous to have that as his introduction when he only played in a single game... He was suspended for using steroids and, call me a cynic, I'm pretty sure he relies on them to remain relevant.

During the 2012 summer tournament, seven players were arrested for breaking into a recycling shop.

What is a "recycling shop" and why would anyone break into one...?

I think we all know these types of people - the ones that simply cannot resist an "oyaji gyagu" whenever the opportunity arises (and by "opportunity" I mean, whenever it pops into their head).

Is it the violence in the games or just the glorifying of antisocial characters committing violent acts? There are plenty of violent games out there, such as the superb recent installments in the Metal Gear franchise, that are very violent but don't glorify crime (think GTA). I don't think the study should throw all violent games into one category, as it's unlikely they all have the same effect on teens.

Just curious, but how do you go about affixing panties to a car? With glue? Scotch tape? Seems like some skills are needed to turn a car into a pantymobile.

Killed her, hid the body, and apparently no sign of remorse. And yet prosecutors can still only demand a sentence which is less than your average drug dealer gets.

Sounds like a textbook example of a psychopath to me.

as it switched to distributors in Thailand “to address the concerns of our customers”

That's good news. I never tasted a Thai chicken dish I didn't like.

I'm surprised Tatsuro Yamashita didn't make the list.

I feel terrible for Tanaka. He is one of the best pitchers to come along in a very long time and was having an MVP year. And now this. It sucks for any pitcher to go through but what a waste in this case...

Nonomura visited the hot springs 106 times last year

That's 2 visits a week, all year long! He must be one cleeeeeeean dude after hitting the onsen that often. As for sobbing and shouting nonsensical phrases in reaction to being asked about dubious expenditures, that's par for the course whenever I'm called in to explain an expense report...

On Twitter, it generated more than 580,000 tweets in the space of a minute.

That's almost how many goals Germany scored in the same amount of time...

Hilarious how the video shows mothers on the street commenting on on how much of a "meiwaku" these girls caused without considering what seems obvious; i.e., the girls were drugged and couldn't move. Only in Japan would an 8 minute spot on such news focus almost entirely on how horrible the manners are...

Japan got a PR boost by cleaning up trash at the World Cup, but perhaps they should clean up the trash in their political representatives first.

Assuming "pepper" is there to showcase Japan's technology prowess, why have it use a grayscale Kindle display straight out of 2007?