DerekJ comments

My fiancee is in Oita. She wasn't one of those evacuated but says the rain has been unbelievable. I'm definitely hoping they get a break.

I hear that Donald Trump is asking for the death certificate.

This is disturbing...

Where's the part where they searched his apartment and found 500 pairs of panties? Isn't that an obligatory portion of these types of stories?

Will there be another minority President in America ??? Very hard to imagine after Obama would there be a woman president or an minority ! ! I wish America Luck and Good Fortune because there are alot of in the closet racists out there. I have to go to work now !!! Bye

No doubt. The racists woke up one day and realized the black guy actually won. They won't let that happen again. They will be out in force in 2012.

I have seen nothing worse than the topix.com forums section, which is completely un-moderated. Wander over to the african-american forum and you will read some of the most vile stuff imaginable. I'm often there doing battle with racists from across the spectrum.

@HumanTarget

I think you are confusing intent with attempt. While I'm no expert on Japanese law, the general concept of an attempt is that with intent to commit a crime, the person engages in conduct which tends to effect the commission of such crime. In this case, bring the knife into the store with the intent of robbing it and then changing his mind is jailable as an attempt. The intent itself is not jailable.

Interesting cultural stereotyping, but I would think that if you really had a sense of shame you wouldn't be stabbing your acquaintance in the first place.

Actually, he is more correct than you think. Police tactics notwithstanding, an admission to wrongdoing is not at all unusual. It's often about atonement and maintaining harmony within the group.

@nisegaijin - I would like to see more titles out, and ability for DVD users to get discounts when they exchange their media to blu-ray.

That is the only way I would look to replace anything more than select titles in my DVD collection with BD format. That said, my Lord of the Rings trilogy will get replaced with the BD set.

I bought my PS3 specifically for the blu-ray player after hearing it was one of the best. I haven't been disappointed, though the disks themselves are more expensive than they need to be.

And I thought the green chick in Star Trek was hot....

@fishy: You would be amazed how well women are able to hide a pregnancy. Happens all the time. Some baggy clothes and bingo, no one knows about the pregnancy. As they were divorced, I doubt the ex took particular notice of various subtle changes that go along with a pregnancy.

Sorry HeyLars, the Welfare departments are woefully underfunded and understaffed. They don't have the manpower to handle what they already have, nevermind adding a "round of over-reaching".

Never heard of unfunded mandates? Do more with less is the mantra of the day in government.

In the old days... the mother would simply fall on a small sword... there is no shame in this!

Good 'Serenity' reference!!

In the US of A, I wonder, where can we get such Japenese language games for the PS3?

eBay or playasia.com

hopefully this will bring about some flights from kyushu to the mainland u.s.a. I hear you on that. It would make getting to Oita much easier for me...not to mention cheaper. :-)

I think Christmas is a bunch a bullcrap anyway. Let's cut down a symbol (the evergreen tree) of everlasting life (your spirit) killing it. Then after you have symbolically destroyed your soul, let's put a bunch of bling on it and spread a lot of materialistic garbage around it. A ritual of how consumerism sucks the soul right out of you. Bah humbug!

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

Terrible thing to happen for sure. While I clearly agree that this is not a Japanese-specific occurrence, there are clearly cultural factors that cause it to happen the way it does in Japan. I am currently reading a collection of essays entitled The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture (ISBN 9780804832953). It's a good read so and I recommend it to anyone interested in shedding light on this type of behavior and others in Japan.

anthony39, I am well aware of the status of the child porn issue. I am not excusing that. My complaint is about the sweeping generalizations.

@taiko666: Your post misses my point. I bemoan the utter disdain some posters display for the Japanese in general. The behaviors we see are neither unique to Japan nor an excuse for derisively classifying a whole people.

@glycol57: Thank you for those words. The number of posters that appear to look down their noses at the Japanese is truly disappointing. I know it's a strong word but often there seems to be a tinge of hatred in these postings. The cop in this story is simply a cad, regardless of his nationality. Good for the honorable cop to call out the guy.

Japanese horror films are pretty good for the most part. There are also many good films in other genres. As jason6 said, many Japanese films are not subbed/dubbed so you have to brush up on your Japanese. I get a lot of the films I watch through Netflix. They have a very good selection that they constantly add to.

DVM, You're right about that...my bad. That said, I'm wondering if the court applied 36-6-208(c) in making its decision on jurisdiction. Applying US notions of child custody determinations against those of Japan (i.e. the non-custodial parent is basically cut out of the picture), we may have the answer.

Doesn't make much sense to me. Why should americans help this man when he renounced his own american citizenship to be a japanese citizen? Its one of the requirements to be a naturalized japanese citizen, google it. I think Japan should just handle this case alone now. Let them handle it the japanese way. America has no right anymore to get in the way of the japanese citizens.

Aside from the larger issue of international child abductions, this guy gets little sympathy from me. He and his wife played a game of chess with their kids as pawns and he got burned. These kids need better parents. It doesn't appear to me that either parent is willing to set aside their pride for the sake of the kids.

DwightVanWinkle, in answer to your question about the UCCJEA, that statute is applicable as to between the signatory states. I TN is one of those states. The fact that they came from Japan is not determinative in this situation. The TN court properly assumed jurisdiction. TN was the only court in the US that could have assumed jurisdiction. Both parents and kids moved there and indicated an intent to remain. There was a significant presence of the kids in the state (kids were registered in school). See, tnuccjea section 36-6-216(a(4)

Found excerpt transcripts: debito.org Will make interesting reading.

flyingfish,

That is interesting as I'm not aware that the hearing transcripts have been published. That would be unusual in a divorce proceeding. Please provide a source, link, whatever. In addition, the mere fact that she took the money and ran does not eliminate the possibility of a cheating scenario. If you would read my sentence more closely, you will see the disclaimer in the first part of my sentence. Base upon what I have read so far, the time line and more than a few years with divorce/custody clients, cheating is a possibility here.

This guy was cheating on Noriko. He moved to TN(the mistress moved to TN) with Noriko and the kids so he can keep the relationship with the mistress. A month after the divorce, he marries his mistress. Then he uses American law to bind Noriko from leaving TN with kids. He hid the fact that he was naturalized. The kids were born in Japan and have Japanese passports.

I hadn't heard anywhere this to be a fact but this situation sure smells like it.

Klein2,

In a previous life I was a divorce lawyer. A little different from some others because I used to force my clients to work with their ex-spouses. Didn't make a lot of money doing that because it usually worked. I only had a handful of custody cases that ever made it to trial. Took my own advice with my own divorce and it's working quite well. There is likely much more to this story between Christopher and Noriko that I am very interested to learn.

Klein2, you make some excellent observations. I never understood the notion of fighting in a divorce/custody matter. At least in the U.S., you are stuck with that person for the rest of your life if there are children involved. Why have to court impose a solution on the parties that neither may like? Sit down and hammer out an agreement that you both can live with. Too often, the kids are treated as property in these matters and it is they who lose in the end. It is well past time for parents, regardless of nationality, to acknowledge this simple fact and grown up.