DC2020 comments

I like Cathay, I've always had a positive experience from check-in to in-flight with them. They seem very professional and well trained without being stuffy and officious. And they DO have good-looking flight attendants ;-)

Lesee who wins round 1 of this tit for tat. Japan's poke: don't fly Korean Air (like they do anyway) for a month. Ouch! (sarcasm alert). Korea's counter: To deny entry to 3 politicians in a very public and embarrassing way. I'm gonna go with Korea for round 1. Seriously though, I do have agree with the others that these guys should be more focused on the immediate issues facing Japan right now. But I do like lucabrasi's idea too.

They may or may not use it, they are being paid to endorse it sweetheart (shaking head).

Delta was just ranked #2 in the top 19 "most hated US corporations" by Americans... There were 4 US airlines in the top 10. The "best" was American at #9 most hated... LOL.

Give it a break and chill out! Composition, colors, message, it's actually a great design.

Gotta love retro anything.

Funny how most Asian Airlines (sans JAL) don't have this problem. Delta was recently ranked in the top 19 of "most hated' companies in the US. Ouch! Then throw in the TSA "security" and it all make air travel in the US a very unpleasant experience.

I thought this was already a rule.....I guess I was wrong, so yes, I think this is a good rule. Babies are going to cry, it's what they do. Especially in an uncomfortable aircraft/enviornment, so banning from from 1st class is a good idea for the comfort of the airline's most valuable paying passengers.

Congratulations Cherry Blossom. But seriously, you divorced a guy for assulting a cameraman? Just me or sort of seems like an odd reason... gotta be more... I'm so curious. Maybe her "blog" archives might hold the answers?

I really really hope that hotels don't start to go the way of airlines (US based mainly) where they charge you for every little extra thing. I can see it now... when you checking in - "would you like soap sir, that will be $1.50".

Good job US Armed forces.. First it was Operation Tomodachi, now Operation Teki...you are on a roll!! Who-Rah! But it begs the question.. who will be the next boogie-man? Please let it be Donald Trump.

So I guess this means the "War on Terror" is over!

Just curious, how does one go about getting info about these demos before thtey take place? I would have loved to have joined. Still, in light of all that has happened to the farmers and their animals, 200 is a pretty low turnout.

Just curious if anyone knows, how does one go about getting info about these demos before they take place? I would have loved to have joined.

Yes, saw this yesterday. At the end he says "We love Japan".

Have been looking for land in Yamanashi or Shizuoka for some time.... amazing how many people say how cheap it is in the countryside, but they all seem to be gone everytime I go to find em.

Nice portrait no matter what the haters say. However, what's little Prince Hisahito smuggling under his sweater? A game boy and some snacks for later?

I agree that it's theater. So it's OK to trash constitutional right and subject some to humiliation and embarrassment or unnecessary radiation, but not OK to profile? So granny and her 4 year old grand daughter are subjected to "enhanced" patdowns or full body scanned? Does this make sense to anyone? Do Americans look at that and say "that's logical?" Reeealy? And for those who think that scanned images will never be made public, I'm willing to make anyone a 10,000 yen wager that we will see photos of scanned images made public before these scanners catch a terrorist or anyone with explosives. Any takers?

This was the last straw for me. Was planning a trip to the US for Xmas but instead gonna say Sawadee to Thailand !!

So the latest news is that children under 12 and certain religious faiths (Muslim women) may be excluded from the feel-up. OK, so EVEN IF these $170,000 each machines were foolproof (LOL) then, including, inside a body cavity, I can now name at least three ways to smuggle explosives onto a plane. What's even more insane than spending more than 85 million (170K x 500 machines) that are ineffective is that it's been reported (USA Today, NY Times, etc.), that 81% of the US public say they fine with these new procedures. Mind boggling.

So this new "Radiation or Rape" security choice is being implemented to detect explosives. Great, why not use another method which is 1. cheaper 2. more effective 3. a lot faster and 4. puts a smile on your face . . dogs trained to smell explosives? Our fantastic canine friends beat machines at detection every time for sniffing out drugs, agriculture, explosives, or milk bones, and their only reward is attention. I would happily submit to being sniffed up by a dog anytime.

Just one more reason not to travel to the US. And now this just as the US travel industry has been complaining because international tourists are going elsewhere rather than deal with the new visa / security procedures. As @tkoind2 points out, this is just another "reactionary" knee-jerk charade to make us feel safe. Let me see, first it was the shoe bomber = take off shoes, coat, and laptop out of bag. Then the Liquid bomber scare = no more carry on drinks, baby formula, tooth-paste, now the Explosives scare = Full body scan. If some creative terrorist comes up with a way to make a knife out of an eye glasses frame and a cell phone, will those things be banned next? Where does it end people? Terrorists will find a way. And speaking of which, how about a little more profiling instead? Serious question: aside from Tim McVie (Oklahoma Bomber) can anyone name an incident anywhere in the US or the world against American's committed by a NON Islamic/Muslim terrorist? Just askin'.

@trulymadlyfukai has a point. iTunes has come up with a modern, convenient, value-added, business model for downloading music. I use iTunes because of the reasons I just mentioned. It also makes me feel good that musicians get what they deserve for their work. Having said that, people are going to steal given the opportunity. Open up a store w/o a cash register or staff and put out a can with a sign "please pay for what you take" and see how much you make vs. loss. The music industry (in general) has not kept up with technological advances and they are getting ripped off. I know a lot of people who steal music and movies from the internet, they do it because 1. They can. 2. there is no pay alternative with value added content or services (sound quality, artwork, membership benefits, etc.). And last, many who steal music from the internet, rationalize their actions due to the simplistic David vs. Goliath argument from the music industry who just shout "thief" rather than trying to change their outdated biz model and offer something people are willing to pay for. IMHO.

Nice article.

The issue here is not really "service". Japan has great service in an efficient and courteous manner. What we are really talking about here is the difference between service and hospitality. Whereas service is a "promise to deliver", hospitality is how the delivery of that promise makes one feel. The core of hospitality is the human touch and most importantly "empowerment". In Japan, empowerment is nonexistent in the workplace especially (ironically) in the hospitality industry. In fact, and correct me if I'm wrong, there is not even a Japanese word for "empowerment". So based on this, anyone who's familiar with Japanese society and culture should understand how "service" here can be so good but hospitality extremely lacking.

I like KLM, good airline, good service, and when traveling in Biz class they give (used to) those BOLS Dutch House miniatures. They make great gifts.

Daniel's work is fantastic. I would encourage anyone interested in art to check out his work.

When Ichiro joined Seattle in 2001, they were a pretty good team good. In fact that year Seattle won 116 games. This was not a case of big fish in a little pond. It's just since 2001, Seattle has basically sucked. And yes there is a big Japan connection in Seattle. I'd love to see Ichiro go to a team where he can win a WS.

"there are just four smoking seats available at Restaurant Rick in Roppongi" I heard a good quote once - "having smoking and no-smoking sections in a restaurant is like having a peeing and no-peeing sections in a swimming pool". I always make reservations before I go to a nice restaurant and then I confirm there is a no smoking section, if they don't have one or have only the "no-smoking tables????" I always say, oh, ok, sorry never mind, cancel the reservation. Don't know if it has any sway on their future policy or not. But I get to make my point.

Reeeealy? Yet another up-kirt J-satsu perp story? 1. This just ain't news anymore. 2. As I once asked last time we had a story like this, do these stories get reported in the Japanese news too? I never hear my Japanese freinds talking about this.