coskuri comments

Yes. That was OK.

You pay more for less. Less safety (who has the key ? no front desk ? security norms ?). Less convenient location (GPS can't find... is there really a village in that forest ? I have to go throught that mud road ?), less service... But you're still glad to get a roof for the night when nothing else was available. It's like Uber. They exploit the shortage of pro offers in peak season.

living like the locals.....in the middle of the entertainment district

Sure, typical local life... Why not staying in a love hotel if that's what you're writing about ?

Why are there riot police at Kishida’s house if he’s not even there?

It is not his own house but the official Prime Minister residence. It's the type of public building that they guard 24/7 (like Embassies). And it's probably never empty. Even when the PM does not live in it, there are offices, archives, reception rooms, parkings with the official cars and permanent staff.

I am sure we will never get the true reason for the price increase

No mystery. It is the national strategy explained many times by officials : "Let's milk the wealthier tourists and deter those traveling on a modest budget from even coming to our country."

They want much less crowd in Kyoto, Mt Fuji, Disney, all trains, Donki, kombinis... They bother locals. There is not enough staff to serve them. And profits are limited if they eat onigiris, travel with a pass, sleep 6 in one Rbnb and buy Porckys as souvenir.

planning to focus more on quality, and loger stays/spend, than explosive short stay trips. 

Not exactly. They think that stays of the length of passes are too long.

They'd want a few more rich elderly or rich Chinese people jet-setting to stay a few days in into palace hotels, burning $$$ in casino, eating only in *** restaurants, playing golf, at the limit doing short sightseeing trips in small group with a chauffeur, guide and interpreter and shopping for over priced luxury items.

a child with no possibility of ever knowing 

No longer possible. DNA data bank find the bio mothers an fathers in a few seconds now. Public will soon have full access.

Can we don't care ? That won't change anything. Not one person more into gambling as Japan has maximized its potential already.

There is a casino in the town next to mine and for locals it's a good thing -but not sure same rules apply in Japan. The casino pays huge taxes and in our system, most is given to the town. It's Rich-city. The inhabitants pay next to nothing as house tax. Streets, parks, lakes, public equipments are gorgeous (for schools, kid and elderly activities), the famous shows come to local theaters and we can see for cheaper, lots of free events... In addition, here the casino cater to the Chinese addicts mostly, the rich ones that made fortune in sweatshops (clothing industry etc) and It's a little revenge to take money back from them.

I voted no because Abe gave the licensing rights to corrupt guys. 

Of course, he had to pick among candidates. You know Mothers Teresa that want to run casinos ?

If we care for environment, his whole company would be asked to cease activities. Today. Even yesterday. Sweet industry is even more detrimental to heatth, society , economy than booze and tobacco's. They get people addicted, but the first one targets even toddlers and kids.

Pet industry is a huge waste too, and contributes to massive animal abuse by "animal lovers".

 (not to mention historically deadly to the pets).

That they care because the "put to sleep" business is super lucrative and they lose sales if pets die before being killed... For them, ideally the pet food makes the animals chronically sick so they need regular visits to the vet ...

Note that no woman filed complaint so it can't be that serious. 

One did. She has a rape kit + a video. And even with that..

But seriously, what's the point to go to the police ? The victim and witnesses against the big boss are judged as much or more than the perp. The victim is asked by justice to bring more proof than they had for Nuremberg trial.

Or they know they benefited from their situation

The benefits from getting grabbed by a Depardieu or a Trump are what exactly ? Onteniente that directed several movies with Depardieu says he had to intervene to make him stop harrassing the young women that were extras on the set. The extras are mostly ordinary people that come to help because that's cool. Decent artists know that and treat them really nicely. It's really lame to take advantage of your position to abuse them.

What is a 'Judas betrayal'? 

It's when a friend is very pleasant with you while you're there... and betrays you as soon as you turn your back.

So, is it the case the Liberal Party went to tell the Indigenous groups they were supporting a referendum (maybe while they were fishing for votes ) ? And then...

to ban electric scooters from the streets

No. Only the "self-service" ones that any idiot can rent in 15 seconds with a smart phone for roughly 1 euro, and just drop anywhere 5 to 10 minutes later. That never was a good idea.

Set a speed limit and don't allow them on sidewalks.

They go at 25 km/h (motor limit). There exist very clear rules that most users choose to ignore.

Japan's existence as an idependant country is much less secure than that of the US. The 2 Koreas, China, Russia, plus the US on their soil. Even quakes threaten stability.

These 2 ladies are not part of a government or what. It is their private lives. We don't care.

Why not "mandate" them for pedestrians too?

They'll want them too. They are already wearing masks.

has anyone managed to design one that doesn't destroy a hairdo?

Yes. That's some airbag that only messes your chignon in case of shock.

HÖVDING

No other news to tell ? Is it that special ? In most countries, they deliver all the perps by truck . And an escort of cars and motorcyclists is dispatched for all VIPs at risk (not only jailed ones, even politicians and other useless celebs).

I know in Japan that seems more low profile, with Prime Ministers taking the train with you, then picking a taxi at the station... and Abe killed because he was not protected. But I found it there was never what it seems. They have lots of security staff that look like business men and the "taxi" is usually a high security car, with an escort that looks like normal traffic.

tax dollars 

You think Americans are paying ? Seriously, the police is payed anyway, so when they don't transport perps, they are paid snoring or having fun in the koban.

I think Tanaka won’t say a word…

No problem as the prosecution can speak for him. If he dies too soon, the trial stops, that's what they fear now.

Do they seriously think other gangsters will sacrifice their lives 

YES. I don't say it's rational, but look at that hit man. He's wasted his life, no ? He was already rotting in jail for the sake of the holy yakuza.

If all religions lost their tax exempt status the gains to societies would be immense.

I want them to keep exempt status BUT they have to be banned to run any business (school, newspaper, shop..), and be forced to give authorities all their accounts in real time.

Then, they should be made to publish regularly anonymized lists with all donations, others sources of income, all charity projects, all lobbying/campaigning expenses, all legal expenses (trials for pedo priests , money extortion, harrassment, illegal 'medecine'...), how much money leaving the country and going where... for everybody to see and particularly followers.

Well, there is already part of that requirement, dependings on countries. It has to be more precise and enforced.

Nippon Kaigi was mention on ABC news

It's not a scoop. Abe was speaking at their events, every body knew that. Well, they do tons of stuff many consider... as unsavory. But I doubt they prey widows for their money (we never know, OK).

Even the other cults that will ruin you, they are not having Abe as their grand-master.

So that does NOT MAKE SENSE to shoot him rather than aiming more directly at the cult (their buildings and/or execs).

There is more to the story.

Or less. Could be the guy won't talk at all so they take ideas from his biography to feed the media.

Whale meat is still not recognized ...as food

Grandpa, it's no longer recognized. Humans have eaten whales to the point of near exctinction. It's over. Forget it.

It's the oil they should drop, then the milk/yakult, the jelly and junk sweets, processed food. Give fresh fruits and veggies to those kids as it is known that's what the poorer families fail to provide them. Many school already have experimental gardens. Grow more edible plants in them.

So, they decided to save money on children?

Yes, in Tokyo, the world's richest city. They give 31 yen of tax money per kid meal. And for the Olympics wait... That was 1.45 trillion yen.

Yes, Sandoval. They should exchange tips with North Korean tour organizers.

guide the group and they will also need another “guide” in disguise who will look at the tourist movement

The tourists 'requiring a visas' before pandemic were already given 3 to 4 baby-sitters to each group : a Japanese registered guide playing candy crush on her phone (apparently, but maybe reporting to the police ?), a foreign resident translator -doing the guide's job, a driver and in some cases a guide coming from abroad. They were not going around free, they had to stick to schedule, they had to book approved hotels (not the cheapest ones). In each place they'd go, there was staff in charge of tours, putting a hanko, you know like a stamp rally.

Roughly, that tripled the cost (compared to visiting the same places without a "crew").

The agencies were doing profit... but their market was limited to richer tourists of the concerned countries.

Thrown into confusion? Easy to get Japanese confused just change one small thing and utter confusion.

I worked in places that would arrange trips for visitors, including those "requiring a visa" . That's a ton of paper work. Group applications have to be made months in advance. You can't speed up the process.

but what’s the reality

Just like Brexit, the reality is nothing is prepared. The Summer season is "delayed". They can hope a few tours for Autumn leaves. They'll be ready for sakura in 2023.

This is the first time ever that a governing president of the Fifth Republic has been re-elected.

It's the 4th time. After De Gaulle, Mitterrand and Chirac.

Why manipulating the numbers in favor of Le Pen ?

It's just timing. Counting is not over. The sticks (where she had high scores) publish their results first, Paris is counted last.

He said French and Japanese judicial authorities should cooperate with Lebanese authorities

Be careful what you wish for, M. Ghosn. Now that there is a warrant, French justice can ask your extradition. It can be accepted for dual citizens charged in their other country.

I cant see why he cant have a trail via a live link in a lebonesse court room.

There is no reason. He is fit enough to travel and attend. There is no 'ban' as he describes. He is restricted at the request of Interpol. It's just to make sure he doesn't join Snowden in Russia or what. But Lebanese authorities would allow him to go to dates with his fav judges in France or Japan.

The guy is a stone cold killer.

Or not. He does look unpleasant, creepy, but well, that proves nothing.

I hoped that the trial would tell us what evidence there is that anyone was killed.

The media didn't say. No corpse, no remains, no belongings found anywhere, no blood, no witnesses, no confession. So what ?

For all those commenting here that 28 years in prison is too short, 

What about the last man that was seen together with Natalie Wood alive ? At least she is dead for sure.

Japanese killers get a much shorter sentence 

Indeed. Like the killers of that toddler Yuachan.

In her testimony last week, Taeko Kurosaki called Zepeda a "liar" 

How would she know ?

One thing I found super weird about the case. The police of a foreign country, teachers and students (people she had known for less than 2 months), volonteers that never met her, searched Narumu frantically during 2 months or more. Meanwhile the relatives in Japan did not bother taking a flight and join.

Then I assumed she was alone in life or she had very old and sick parents.

The school didn't have to call the police as many adult students just quit before finishing a course, and usually French unis don't try to check what they become.

In such a case, the family would have reported Narumi missing at some point ? Or never ?

Now, suddenly, that family say they know that Zepeda murdered the girl.

French courts did their best to give out the 28year sentence since the case wasn’t clear cut 

It's huge for an unclear case. I hope they didn't make a mistake.

The maximum, "perpétuité incompressible" is 30 yrs and it's never given for a simple murder for a first timer (that's for serial killers, terrorists...). Even Jonathan Daval -that had the same lawyer as Narumi's boyfriend. That guy that killed his wife, burnt the copse in the mountain and pretended looking for her, being so sad), well he got less. And it's proven that he did it and did lie.

There is no reason Japan should deny this child citizenship

There is. It's a very different topic. The child has the parents' nationality, they are NOT asking Japanese nationality for their babies nor themselves. (we don't need discussing other unrelated cases from other articles, do we?)

It's about allowing kids to live with their "expat" parents during the 3 yrs they are working in Japan, at parents' expenses. There is no reason to not allow the child to stay. Particularly a baby that costs nothing in education.

I've known foreigners that were in Japan as diplomats, foreign company's expats, hired by Japanese company, students and even artists that got visas for short term stay in Japan and were allowed to take their children with them, keep the babies born in Japan with them as long as they stayed. Why not the trainees ? I don't find the double standard acceptable.

Which country if any, treats foreigners equally as her citizens?

Which country has a double standard system like that for the foreign workers with a legal visa ? Dubai, Qatar and a few like that, I guess. North Korea ? Tell me.

if their visa doesn't allow them to have their kid here the best thing for them and us as taxpayers is for them to go back to Sri Lanka.

It's harming a baby to separate from the mother. It's the worst case.

The parents pay tax and insurances. or the employers are supposed to pay. 99% of the trainees are just cheaper and more easily disposable workforce. They are not getting any free lunch. If they stop coming, your taxes will go up quickly to try cover the loss for industry.

For most of them, 160,000 a month is a rich person's salary

It is, there. It's not in Japan. They pay the same price as anyone at the supermarket while in Japan.

Then to get the trainee deal, in most cases, their whole family had to get into big debts (lots of corruption to get their file accepted, then get a passport, then airplane tickets...) so they need to work first to repay that. Only then, they can save in hope to have enough to pay for further university education, or to buy a farm, a shop or to start their company back home. I never met one that did it to get a luxury villa and live idle.

They earn every single yen of that money in conditions harder than you've ever had persevere through.

Absolutely.

children of foreign trainees are allowed to stay in Japan for only six months.

Seriously ? How can someone design such a rule ? A child should always be allowed to live with their parents. 10 to 12 yr old is really a minimum for distant separation.

That's already cruel how Japanese laws are abusive for children of divorced/separated parents that are cut from half of their relatives. But in this case that's even worse as the baby would be cut from both parents. That can be a real trauma. I hope they allow a longer stay.

means they have money to go out but

Last time I checked, going out was free.

no money to buy sanitary products, strange

You have no idea how costly that can be. That varies, in some cases, you don't need much, but many women get really complicated periods (for a while after childbirth, all the time due to a condition...), they need more specific products, larger quantities and that can be thousands of yen per month. Probably that should be counted as a medical expense.

I feel for them... but they made the choice to move. There were people in a similar situation that moved from Europe to USSR after the war, and soon they were trapped in there and accused of being spies or whatever, sent to jails.

That is a generational issue. Young people love Korea

No, they don't. What they love is South Korea (Kankoku), not North Korea (Kita-Chosen).

You are confusing 2 countries. Your generation was not educated or what ?

A bit late to mention this but, who makes the decision on Nissan's behalf to plead guilty?

It's not a plead guilty like in Perry Mason.

CEO and board at the time of the case make the decision and represent tha company in courts (even if they have done nothing as those that were in charge before did it). Nothing special.

They had to clear the plate, settle the matter, accept fines with tax authorities and stock exchange autorities, otherwise the company could not continue operations.

It seems that is done to deliberately strengthen the prosecutors hand, which is an OBVIOUS conflict of interest since Nissan is also the main plaintive here.

No, Nissan is not a plaintive in this case (the Greg Kelly one in Japan). There were 3 co-defendants : Ghosn , Kelly,

, but a co-defendant. There are several cases that came after Ghosn's antiques were investigated.

I don't think they have a real choice. They are only deciding when.

Those that stay in Russia are not be able to work as usual due to all sorts of disruptions, lack of safety for their workers. That won't get better and it's even possibly that the authorities kick them out soon in a revival of 1917.

 the few Russian oligarchs or riches who could shop there a few luxury things

A can of soda is not such a luxury. There are all sorts of brands. If that lasts, a few useful objects may be missing in Russian shops. Could be things like medications, spares for equipment.

declined to give her nationality

I understand they don't want to be identified, but well without nationality the article does not make much sense. At least, let us know if they are HK citizens, other Chinese citizens or others. In HK it's same sh... for all, but their possibilities of relocating are very different.

better healthcare in their home countries. Some might call that racist. I would call it, 

What relation with race ? That would be about money, social class... And I doubt it is just that. Until recently, HK healthcare was super good , but they are dealing with Covid crisis really awfully and it's a political issue. They are obviously taking distance with the Beijing regime.

A childish remark

We're commenting a childish article. Well we need some futility to distress.

 Putin’s dog probably licks him

A couples years ago I heard Putin say in itw that she was biting him a little sometimes when they were fighting in the snow, and that she was more defiant of his superb authority than the others in his country... and then he refused the offer of gift of a male Akita, so they could breed hinting that he couldn't deal with a whole tribe of such "devils".

It seems he's not fearless after all : we should try sending a battalion of puppies to Moscow.

 renaming French Fries as freedom fries 

We really enjoyed that one in France. First we had no idea there were French fries (here we eat Belgian fries) and then 'freedom' is a brand of sanitary pads.