DeDe Miura comments

Yubaru - you're right - the media is controlled now...so look forward to some more celebrity scandals to divert our attention. Grrrr....

...he's leaving the country and his offices will be abuzz with shredders and money laundering...

Hallelujah!

WilliB - maybe they get numb and can stay in the water... I don't know though.

Grrrrrr.....

Great man!

Heavy drinking - but not heavy shopping...

I agree with papigiulio - he obvious wants to split real quick - gotta get back to partying...

Red Bull and Monster drinks are so-called energy drinks, too - they can kill.

Hmmmm... safe like North Korea? Put Japan in a bubble of protection like before? Keep out the foreign troublemakers... okay...here we go...

No loss for me - I always thought it was disgusting - the texture and all - but after I found out how they do it - I was sure I'd never ever try it.

He seems to be for the citizens... but his track-record with women leaves a lot to be desired.

Thanks Sensato...I live close by. :(

Where in Tokyo was this?

I've been seeing more and more of this type of face cover...I'm not sure what to think.

Why not mean "we surrender"... we got caught... we're crooks and never had the citizens' needs as our priority...

I want to hurry up and turn 60 so I can avail of the discounted movie ticket to watch alone if I so wish. Y1000 is a good price. I hope they don't change the age to 63 any time soon. I also am wondering - what age is so called "aged", and how about a "senior"...I'm wondering.

Many local governments have expressed concern that disclosing test results school by school will create a hierarchy of schools and cause excessive competition.

This is already a problem. :(

I heard that the suspect kidnapped a child 13 years ago, but let them go... therefore he was able to do it again, this time with terrible results. So very, very sad.

I don't think Japan needs to apologize to other countries any more. As I said in another post, the leaders need to apologize to the Japanese people for whitewashing its history and not telling the facts in history texts. The government should apologize for promoting war during the first half of the 1900's and keeping the country poor and sending off their boys to fight and die.

Actually, I personally think that the Japanese government owes the Japanese people an apology as they have been the ones lied to and used:

Dear Citizens,

I am coming before you to lay it all out to you - this once - and only today. We the Japanese Government have lied to you, we are still lying to you and we will continue to lie to you. We have used you to fight our wars of aggression - and we have lied to you about what actually went on. Those countries in which we had invaded did not welcome us with big smiles and cheers - but went anyway. We told you we were setting them free from those European colonizers... hahahahahahaaa.... nope we hoped to bring them into our fold... forced them to learn Japanese and well... they know the truth. China and Korea will never accept our monetary apologies because they know full well that we don't tell the truth in our history books... we will NEVER tell the truth. You the Japanese citizens have been duped and will continue to be so... Banzai!

It's true WA4TKG - if they hadn't have bombed Pearl Harbor, but then we'll never know. Japan was the invader, the antagoniser, and someone had to put a stop to it. It wasn't just 2 countries battling it out, they invaded several countries and territories... had to stop. Sorry it killed so many civilians but countless civilians died or were tortured in the countries Japan invaded...sorry for all the victims.

PLEASE WORLD LEADERS, DON'T MAKE WARS.

I would hate to walk in their shoes. Having to represent the country that was responsible to such devastation is hard to live with. I do not judge the leaders of today for something that happened 70 years ago. Today is the day to not choose war. I respect that they are going and paying their respects, as opposed to not making an appearance. I respect the Kennedy family. JapanGal..your comment was just unnecessary.

I agree with all of the above.

How about:

The new-hires having to set out the blue sheet to reserve a good spot for the annual ohanami party. Feeling guilty to even ASK to take a vacation longer than 1 day. Writing and sending useless end-of-the-year cards to people who don't care if you do or not.

Actually, the only way the Japanese will willingly buy foreign produce (not Chinese) will be if they have those side-walk taste tests and people have to sample food not knowing where it comes from. When the majority say "oiiiiishiiiiiii" over and over for imported foods, they'll get the idea... but well, you gotta have some so-called "talents" give their 2 cents and then the whole country will follow... but I guess this will never ever happen in my life time...I must be dreaming.

It's a restaurant: http://www.viewhotels.co.jp/asakusa/english/restaurants/musashi/

restaurant http://www.viewhotels.co.jp/asakusa/english/restaurants/musashi/

No thanks for a crowded pool... yukkkk.

This morning my students said that the Japanese work better under pressure. So, in this case the pressure is time. Someone said there was a time factor with the other Tokyo Olympics in 1964. I just looked at the Wiki page for 1964 and it had this to say: Unfortunately, however, the construction projects resulted in some environmental damage, forced relocations for some residents, and loss of some industries. In addition, corruption by politicians and construction companies resulted in cost overruns and some shoddy work. Will history repeat itself?

They knelt outside the Tokyo Metro Government Building!? Wow, too bad someone didn't get a photo of that - it must have looked strange...