Droll Quarry comments

If China did indeed invade Taiwan, it wouldn’t be a proxy war, but an all-fronts all-out war involving more countries than the Global War on Terror.

There is nothing to be gained defending Taiwan. The United States would throw Taiwan to the wolf, just like it did when it was called Formosa.

Sounds good if the coin is going in your pocket, but if you are a resident in one of these areas it sucks. Prices are higher, traffic is a nightmare, shortages of veggies and staples as they are siphoned off to hotels and If you live on Okinawa, residents are faced with the very possibility of water rationing. I can just about guarantee the hotels will scam the system to ensure Joe Tourist can soak in the tub with the hot water running to maintain temperature.

Nissan is an unethical company, just ask Carlos.

Numbers increasing?? Two whales in two years, one last January and one this January does not sound like an epidemic.

If you apply normal Japanese media rationale.... If it's not happening in Tokyo it does not matter.

He thinks his jokes are funny.... or at least he laughs at them.

Too much time and emphasis spent on how fruit and vegetables look and not how they taste. Looking pretty is not cheap as another poster pointed out. I don't know how much these grapes cost, never bought any and don't intend to do so. We always buy the fruit and veggies that are no "suitable" for the supermarket because they do not conform to the shape and color of the ideal, photo book display stereotype appearance. These less than perfect fruit and veggies save us a lot of money and IMHO taste just as good. Anyone up for a 40000 yen melon?

.... Its hard to find competent people to cook your books ....

The church is a religion of peace. It's just a small number of adherents who don't represent everyone there.

And no one noticed the amassing of 6 to 10 billion surplus yen by these adherents? A church or cult of willing participants that couldn't control this "small number of adherents? A few billion yen spent and we will have a rinse and repeat.

Crime pays.............. well!

Try relocating a US base near Tokyo and see what happens!

You would make a fine reporter for Mainstream news outlets. Cherry picking facts and spinning those to support your hatred for the US military. There are three military bases within a stones throw of Tokyo: Yokosuka, Yokota and Atsugi. The the Okinawa Governor and the party block/machine that ensures he gets reelected is funded by outside interests further south that have a lot to gain if the American presence on Okinawa is reduced. When and if, Taiwan falls, Okinawa is next to be assimilated. As the Borg would say, resistance is futile!

That front façade looks like it was copied directly from a 2021 Escalade. For a 170K, a bit more effort in styling would have been appropriate.

At a press conference in Rankoshi, Mitsui Oil President Hidenori Harada stated that the Hokkaido government has instructed the company to cease dumping water outside the site. However, it is expected to take approximately two weeks to construct a pipeline that will redirect the accumulated water to a well about 1 kilometer away.

If that well connects to the water table........... Just sayin.....

@wallace,

Ok, gotta be specific to be terrific

Texas also has and independence movement and it has about as much chance to succeed as the Okinawa one.... which is nil. The overwhelming majority of Okinawa people identify as Japanese. There are a few romantics and hardliners that try to stir up the glory days, but they can't overcome the propaganda machine of the c/party.

There are 440 Nuclear power plants operating in 34 countries. They have been around since 1957 and there have been two and a half major accidents in those 66 years. I don't see anything that warrants the constant hand ringing and sky is falling trope.

China has no history of fostering another land without absorbing them as their own.

Just ask Hong Kong.

.........like a mouse offering a snake cheese.

Not the bland US, NZ Seiji-Ishii stuff. We need good English-style cheddar

....... and make it extra sharp cheddar! Some saltine crackers and an ice cold beer. I appreciate the tradition of wine and cheese, but I'm just not a wine person. Tillamook Creamery makes a decent cheese in the US.

Regardless of creed , color ,identify , gender , or nationality everyone has the right to comment or have an opinion on any such article whether they live in the area of reported article or not.

I agree with this statement. But when people appoint themselves experts and no longer present comments or their opinions and parrot fake or misleading information that it becomes irritating. I have no illusions about changing anyone's mind on anything on this site, but it is interesting to see what is being pushed as the truth.

Oh and the suffering I have experienced here is from fools who dont know what they are talking about.

I agree. If you don't live here and see the propaganda that is pushed daily by the government and media, you cannot fathom the gap in perception and reality, The vast majority of the Okinawa people just want to get on with their daily lives, have meaningful jobs, raise their children and lead a comfortable life. Instead they get reminded of WWII everyday by the local TV stations and newspapers, told how they are being discriminated against and how much better things would be without American bases. The really frustrating part of this is the people outside Okinawa who don't have a clue, chiming in with expert opinions which end up supporting the very political machine that is the cause.

Denny Tamaki is a left-wing politician who would like to belong to China along with former member of the House of Representatives, Ozawa, but the residents do not want that at all.

The political machine that keeps the communist party in power on Okinawa cannot function without Chinese money. You cannot become governor of Okinawa unless you are part of that machine. This party has placed the welfare of the Okinawa people last and ensured Okinawa is dead last as a prefecture. Denny and his cronies burn through an enormous amount of money from the Japanese and American governments and have very little to show for it.

Start shopping for an additional parking place now. Can't imagine the licensing requirements for this thing. I had an amphicar back in the 70s in the US and had to have a drivers license and a boat operators license. It had a watercraft inspection and a road worthy inspection as well.

Apart from being a Japanophile is there any reason to live in Japan anymore?

 I fear that my time here has taken its toll upon me. I share a bond with this gilded place. If I ventured far from Okinawa, my strength would begin to wane until I was no more."

Well, there's your problem. Five years past the point at which he should have retired.

Yes, yes, we all know Old People are the cause of all the worlds troubles. Can't trust anyone over 50, they might have more life experience and know more than us.... and (shudder) they don't spend 90% percent of their waking hours on a smart phone.

Maybe they should add a new category to the games.......... Most Corrupt Official..... There would be no shortage of potential "athletes" to participate.

The IOC is just as corrupt as Dentsu. The whole Olympic process is an incestuous quagmire of greed.

If your country is so bad, maybe you should stay and fight to make it better instead of cutting and running. The "good" countries did not get that way by their citizens running away in the face of adversity.

Humanity and the rest life will adapt as they have in past few million years. The planet has been hotter and colder and we are still here.

he image of Made in Japan being garbage was in the 1960s. By 1969 NASA was using Sony monitors and in the 1970s US homes had Trintrons. I know cause I watched all that happen.

.... and Japanese motorcycles were the thing! I had a Suzuki 200cc and could smoke HDs..... providing the HD rider could get it to start.