commanteer comments

They are betting on a winner. They don't understand the purpose of elections. Democracy is still too new of a concept in Japan.

Maybe they do understand the purpose of these elections - ever looked at it that way?

How very convenient of you to leave out that the U.S. embargo was a direct result of Japan committing atrocities across China, a large trading partner of the U.S.

Trading partner? You mean imperial conquest. China was awash with imperialism from Europe mostly. The Japan decided to get in on the act and that upset the old-school imperialists. They weren't expecting an Asian country to get in on the game.

Yes, the US favored China, but it's a laugh to claim they cared about atrocities considering their own actions in the Philippines and elsewhere, not to mention the atrocities of European nations.

It was simply a game for power in Asia. Remember, after Ho Chi Minh assisted the US in the war against Japan, Vietnam was rewarded by Truman placing the French imperialists right back in their country after the war ended.

Silent Night was composed in 1818, some carols even earlier. We listen to maybe 2 dozen Christmas songs regularly... Over 200-plus years, that's about one song per decade.

I would say we are about par for the course. Christmas songs are classics, and classics aren't pumped out every year.

The Japanese are taught in school that the evil Americans tricked/led/forced the poor, innocent, peace-loving Japanese into attacking Pearl Harbour.

Aside from the "poor, innocent and peace-loving" claim you make, that would be about right. The US placed a total resource embargo on Japan and froze all its assets, hoping to goad Japan into war. Japan would have collapsed without oil and the other resources the US was keeping from it. Roosevelt knew that Pearl Harbor was a likely target and that the Japanese were considering war to obtain resources - yet he and his staff withheld that information from the commanders in Hawaii.

So, yes, the Japanese were tricked/forced into a war with the US. Not the first (or the last) time the US has used this tactic.

The headline is all wrong - makes it sound like a careless accident when it appears to have been an intentional murder.

Nikki is the wet dream of warmongers in the military-industrial complex. Very dangerous if she becomes president.

Parenthood is a huge onerous responsibility. 

Huge, yes. Onerous, no. A mature adult with a healthy attitude toward life can derive immeasurable benefits from raising children. Not material benefits in most cases, other than being motivational in making one work harder, but spiritual. We teach our kids, but our kids teach us as well.

Odd article - it has almost nothing to do with the title and instead focuses on 19th horticulture and similarity of some flowers to genitalia. A pretty arcane subject, so I don't blame the bait and switch headline.

So far as the headline, it's really nobody's business. The world is overpopulated and rampant procreation is not needed. Some people can't have kids. That said, kids are usually an essential part of human personal development. There is nothing necessarily selfish about not having kids though.

The comment above about childless elders being a burden on taxpayers is unsupported. People with kids also use public support because their kids don't care or are unable to help. And people without kids are more likely to have sufficient savings because all their money didn't go to their kids and their education.

Luckily I live on a mountain. Must be hard to right by the sea.

Destructive landslides are far, far more common than destructive tsunami. Wherever one lives, there is some form of natural disaster.

Never a huge fan, but saw them when they were one of the opening acts for the New York Dolls. The other band that opened that night was a group called Aerosmith. I liked them.

I did want to see it, but it sounds dreary and seems to ignore all the things that made him interesting to focus on his love life. The story of how this obscure boy from Corsica rose to rule France and charm his followers, only to succumb to hubris, is a fascinating one

 It’s not worth risking your life to defend them.

This is generally good advice that I would give as well. But sometimes it's the principle, not the money. We need more people like the big guy. I got a laugh seeing him smash the bike (I hope it wasn't stolen as well, though).

Authenticity is everything. If you can fake that, you've got it made.

The fact you say all of these things about France when they were true 200 years ago, makes me smile because this decline, as you say, must take an awful long time.

It is often said that societies collapse slowly, then suddenly.

Now Doctor Who, like everything with the BBC, has become very woke and PC.

It was always a bit like that, in case you hadn't noticed.

It was, but never at the expense of the story. A few years ago it abandoned story-telling and just uses the characters to dress up very patronizing lectures these days.

Why does anybody voicing this opinion here at Japan Today always get voted down when it is plainly a fact?

I have been here longer than you as well, and I can't say I have seen a change one way or the other. There has always been crime in Japan, like anywhere else, but I would say it was and is still safer than most countries of the world. That said, with the economic situation creating stress and desperation, I would expect crime to increase.

Hamas are the only ones that did anything to try to help the Palestinians. 

They have done such a wonderful job of it, too. To Hamas, Palesinians are cannon fodder for the goals of their glorious leaders in Tehran.

wouldn't you feel something if somebody stabs you in the stomach??

I was badly cut with a razor in the abdomen and didn't notice until I saw all the blood. I wonder it was actually a knife, because hard to imagine not noticing that, especially if it was left stuck there.

Azabudai Hills, a multi-use complex and new world-class neighborhood,

The developers have a very different definition of neighborhood than most people.

While I think 11 years old is old enough to take care of one's self for a few days with enough preparation by the parents..

So she can stay with her boyfriend? No. If it were something unavoidable and important that would be a different story, The worst part of this is the total lack of love the boy is receiving as he grows up. That can cripple him throughout his life unless he is unusually strong in spirit. The woman is heartless, but who knows how she was raised. Maybe the same way.

This is just bizarre. Local courts should have no say at all in overriding international agreements. Otherwise, no nation can ever trust any agreement with Korea, as it might be overruled by any crackpot local judge.

If Korean people are unhappy with the agreements the Korean government has made, they should take up the issue with their government rather than engage in childish showboating.

No, you are not. Jaywalking is illegal. Are you welcome to murder people, too?

Yes, you are welcome to break the law too. Do you understand figurative expressions?

I wonder why they never take advantage of the internet here to link to something like this so we can understand what they are talking about... So here is what the barking deer sounds like - https://youtu.be/kQB0vO4aE6w?si=BV74XuyUFmlSlCgm

So as a pedestrian I can suddenly jump in front of a moving car anywhere along the road and it'll miraculously stop for me because I always have the right of way?

We are talking law, not miracles. In Japan, you are welcome to jump in front of a car and/or jaywalk in front of one. The driver who runs into you will be held responsible, perhaps with a little credit for the pedestrian's illegal behavior. Your failure to obey the law as a pedestrian does not absolve the driver of his/her responsibility to avoid hitting pedestrians.

Hence, "right of way" does not excuse the driver.

Parts of the files are still top-secret so many decades after the fact. That in itself is damning.

Kobune beat Kiyonori to death with a baseball bat inside the car at a parking lot. They then threw her body off a bridge into the water.

Wow. Even if I wanted help committing suicide, I can think of kinder ways to go about it.

Did they have the right of way?

I don't know where you are from, but in most developed countries pedestrians always have the right of way. This is especially so in Japan.

Are there really many people visiting Kyushu or Hokkaido?

Yes. Too many, in fact.

If they have mental disabilities issue why they are in custody in the first place? Because it is Japan and everyone will get same justice.

The prisons of other countries are also filled with such people. Unless somebody has a very obvious disability, that it. But even then, many still go to prison.

@sakurasuki - Sorry you are getting so many downvotes despite being the only one here who is providing information. Welcome to JT.

This is a huge problem in Cambodia - it happens to young people from Taiwan, China and many countries other than Japan. They are lured to Cambodia with the promise of an online marketing job, and then become slaves. Many cases of these people being tortured and murdered if they fail to perform. They are victims as well - the vast majority did not travel with the intent to become criminals - they were forced to once they arrived. It is a form of human trafficking.