Ed O Jidai comments

On the way to the podium at the U.S. Congress Abe managed to shake hands with people by keeping his hand horizontal and on top of everyone else's thereby seeming to assert some kind of superiority. What do you think? In spite of all the admiral's efforts to keep the hand positions "equal", did Abe manage to come out on top or not?

Aikido. If this is a question from someone in Japan then you will have access to Aikido instruction.

Taijiquan takes too long. There are martial applications but they aren't emphasized, or trained, as a rule.

Krav maga looks brutal to me. Effective for sure but you could severely injure or kill someone, thereby making enemies for life of either your injured opponent or the deceased's family and friends. You know: people looking for revenge after the defeat. Warfare is one thing. Self defense another. Not to mention legal ramifications.

Check out examples on YouTube of the martial arts you find available in your area.

But I emphatically agree with "not-so-silly" girl above. Make sure your teacher is of good character. That may be the most important thing, as I found out. If you have any doubts about the teacher pass on by. Life is too short. Continuing could do more harm than good.

There are sometimes short "self defense" courses offered. See if there is something like that in your area. Contacting a ward or city office might put you in the right direction.

It is prep for the coming society-wide live fire on a more massive and deadly scale. Hideki Tojo's ghost would be smiling.

Japan, in the persona of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the snapping lapdog of his American masters, is trying to follow the American example of (senseless) war for profit. Does Abe and his elitist, privileged ilk have financial interests in the "defense" industry? Do they stand to gain financially in a military conflict? Obviously the American war profiteers will benefit through either investments in the Japanese defense industry or by supplying Japan with war material. Or both.

Yes, Abe is helping to return Japan to a former period of "glory", much like one promulgated by the late Hideki Tojo. In your ill-advised fervor for the past Mr. Abe, you would do well to remember the fate of the former Prime Minister Tojo.

But I can hear Abe laughing, "Ha ha. I'll step on that trapdoor when I get to it, fat chance of that ever happening. Yet, if that were to befall me (no pun intended) I would be proud to have my ashes placed along with my hero Hideki Tojo's in Yasukuni Jinja where I would certainly be enshrined and receive absolution."

Of course, China has its own ruling elite, the "Communist" Party, who have probably become Westernized enough to see the economic advantages of themselves benefitting from wars for profit.

We are all, no doubt, screwed. Heaven help the cannon fodder.

So if I am shortchanged in Japan the clerk shortchanging me can be arrested? Pointing out that there was a mistake would be inappropriate because a crime (of theft from me) had been committed.

This is just one step in a gradual transformation into the airline equivalent of cattle cars. In the not distant future we will all be expected to stand in economy class (which will be renamed as something on the theme of sub-human, degenerate class). But don't worry about falling down, it will be impossible considering how packed it will be from jamming so many people in the cabin.

This is another effect of the impending, or rather increasing, world market society. Nothing will matter except your wealth. If you don't have major economic assets, or belong to the new-world-order elite, then cattle-car planes for you, not to mention far worse aspects of the market society a la 1930s and 40s Germany.

Look at those seats! I get the image of a concentration camp of the sky. No boarding pass necessary, just let them scan your tattooed bar code, QR, or human-implantable microchip. "It's just like the chip on credit cards but it's so much more convenient having it implanted under your skin."

If you are not Japanese forget about flying a Japanese airline because the seats will be configured in the smallest acceptable size for the girth and stature of a slightly-below-average, "typical" Japanese person. What if you were in that middle seat and the people on either side of you were obese? Sit on their combined laps?

Shame on you ANA!

We missed seeing you Masako. So, what did the mice get up to for play when the cats were away? A listen to your favorite music? A sleep in? A stroll in the garden? Or better yet, an incognito sojourn outside the palace gates where you could simply enjoy being around everyday people?

By the way, that is Kiko, Princess Akishino, just behind her husband's left shoulder. And speaking of him (reverently), is that a hair color change from his former grey shag?

The Reigning Emperor and Empress look marvelous.

There is an excellent beer company headquartered there there called, strangely enough, Coedo. I liked the Beniaka made with sweet potatoes; also available at Tokyu Honten, maybe.

There is no place on Earth "frozen in time," but there really is a certain amount of "blast from the past" that can be found in Kawagoe. In fact this article details a lot of it. And the nice thing is that the journalist actually went there in person rather than relying on a superficial "Google Street View" and coming from an ah-so arrogant ignorance. "Fooled into thinking"? You are the fool my friend.

This is like Fukushima. You can suppress the truth but you can't alter what is true. Sadly, we know what kind of truth is ongoing in the Fukushima meltdown that effects the water table and Pacific Ocean. And suppressing the truth of the sex slaves does not in any way alter the underlying truth that many of the the women were sex slaves, just like many contemporary Japanese women are essentially sex slaves. It goes further than this, though, Abenomics is harmful and hurtful to Japanese society, as is Abe himself, and every one of his ilk. Look Abe, you can deny the truth but you can never escape what is true. And what is true for you can be found in the last moments of another right-winger such as yourself: Yukio Mishima. But of course, Mr. Abe, you would never accept the truth of this, because you, like every one of your ilk, are cowards and fools.

It couldn't be helped. There were no nearby rice fields set aside for deer where it could have taken refuge. Shikataganai.

I must say that one of many things I liked about my long stay in Japan was the lack of time changes. Great! Good on you Japan!

I especially liked MOS (Mountains, Ocean, Sun) Burger's "Spicy Chicken Burger" but it has long been discontinued. It was great for a weekend, no-hassle meal (with fries, onion rings and a genmai-flake shake).

So MOS Burger coming in first is easy to relate to.

An interior photo, among others at the following link, may give an indication of the atmosphere. There may be no chairs for those who prefer (and those who don't prefer) standing during their all-you-can-drink sessions: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/j2an5afp0000/photo/

Personally, I think it could be cheaper and more comfortable to buy an ishobin and haul it on over to Chuo Park, apart for the need of an anorak in winter and personal mosquito netting in summer.

Thank you for that link, House Atreides. It is appropriate to the post, informational, and perhaps mind saving..

There is a New York Times article that goes into considerable detail regarding the deleterious health effects of refined sugar consumption: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Apropos of the above comment, if people are not getting enough green, leafy vegetables in their diet wouldn't simply eliminating sugar in their diets eliminate the harm sugar can do, in a more direct fashion?

Of course, for the connoisseur, the number one shibori is Kirin Ichi Ban Shibori.

<http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/clock510/imgs/2/6/264bb97d.jpg >

This is an idea which is coming, and will further come, to fruition (pun intended).

Pasona link here: http://www.dezeen.com/2013/09/12/pasona-urban-farm-by-kono-designs/

It was a pun! I love puns! From "Hana ga takai" to "Hana ga sekai"! (sekai being "international").

I am with funny car and Bruce Miller. Wouldn't the money and time be better spent shifting to thorium reactors? Or at least researching them? Why continue on a road that has proven to be leading over a lethal dead-end cliff? The only way to make the existing road safe is to put barriers on it, stopping it before it leads over that cliff. But doing so still makes the present road a dead end. A change in direction, a different road entirely is what is of urgent necessity.

What they are doing in Ibaraki is like scientific research on why someone died eating certain poisonous mushrooms. Scientists, with research, can learn what are the physiological mechanisms caused by that variety of mushroom that cause death in people. But it doesn't take a scientist to say, "Stop eating those mushrooms!" Nor does it take any one with more than average intelligence to say, "Stop using nuclear power in its present form!" If at all. It could be worthwhile to look into thorium. It would be better to decommission all nuclear power plants in the world than to continue with the status quo. If thorium proves to be a pipe dream then that is it. NO MORE NUKES!

I'm sorry, but I have to wonder about these marketing people. When touting his oh-so-traditional gin he went from:

...all these new gins that are fashionable, and have the flavor of roses but don't have the real taste of gin at all

To, in the very next sentence:

Another recent debutant is the vanilla-infused Pink Pigeon Mauritanian rum, which is quickly becoming a favorite of cocktail aficionados.

Wouldn't vanilla infusion totally obscure the "real taste" of rum? To paraphrase what he is saying: "It is unconscionably disgusting that another company should infuse their gin with a rose essence because it detracts from the spirit's true essence. But isn't the infusing of our own rum with essence of vanilla just the most wonderful thing?"

It is interesting that this gentleman is representing an article about the "increasing sophistication of wine consumers" then brings up the noted wine-producing regions of Scotland and the semi-tropics. At first I scoffed but a quick search led me to The Highland Wineries where is sold a variety of wines made respectively from cherries, elderflowers, ginger, plums, and honey. And we have the semi-tropical Okinawa example, supplied by Steve Fabricant, of pineapple wine.

Because Mr. Simon Berry is an obviously wealthy and successful man I see now that I must completely revise my previous concepts as to what truly constitutes sophisticated wine consumption.

As for spirits I now won't stand for anything less than a bottle of Pink Pigeon Mauritanium rum that has the carcass of a real pink pigeon being pickled within it. Yes, I think I am getting the hang of this sophistication business.

Kidding aside, 17 years ago, while touring wineries in Yamanashi Prefecture I splurged on a bottle of Chateau Mercian. It was a Cabernet Sauvignon. By splurged I mean it cost ten-thousand yen. I can say that, yes, Japan can produce an excellent wine on par with good Bordeaux. Of course an equal or better Bordeaux can be found for half or less the cost. But by the same token one could find much worse quality, let alone worse value for money in a classed growth of a less-than-stellar vintage. At the time I don't think value for money was the point of the Mercian effort. It was the quality, which was undeniably there.

From the beginning, when first hearing that Edward Snowden was a "former" CIA agent, I have been wondering about what Homeland brought up. There is no such thing as a "former" CIA agent. It is said: "Once in intelligence, always in intelligence." Maybe the NSA was asserting too much independence from the CIA. But such speculation is endless.

I also wonder if the Target hacking could have been done by a rogue element (or not, as in: planned by those in authority) in the NSA or the like. If Edward Snowden could do what he did for what may be considered benevolent purposes couldn't another US intelligence agent also do similar hacking for malevolent purposes? After all, there was that word used in regards to the NSA hacks on foreign leaders. The surprising word was in reference to the information garnered as being "lucrative." The definition of lucrative is: "Producing wealth. Profitable."

Because he is an American Edward Snowden must be considered innocent of anything like treason until proven guilty in a fair trial and so judged by a jury of his peers. To repeat: He is innocent until proven guilty. That is the American way. Same goes for the presumed innocent Lee Harvey Oswald. The US has no use for secret "Star Chambers" or Warren-type government-commission-style adjudications of a US citizen's guilt.

I wonder what kind of used truck a 72-year-old man would have that is worth about $80,000 US dollars or €57.500 Euros. Something like this?: <http://www.ufunk.net/en/insolite/batvan-tuning-japonais/ >

President Obama's remark makes me wonder what kind of world he lives in these days. It certainly is out of touch with his own White House. One might even say out of touch with reality. As it says in the article:

...a panel of legal and intelligence experts chosen by the White House recommended curbing the powers of the NSA, warning that its mass spying sweeps in the war on terror have gone too far.

Without Edward Snowdon how would we even know that? Without Edward Snowden's revelations would even the debate that President Obama welcomes have ever been remotely possible?

If this wholesale, potential rape of the world's freedoms continues, as it has been going on, the massive, all-encompassing seine net the U.S. intelligence services is trawling behind them will gather us all up, drag us down and drown us all along with a few terrorist minnows. Is that its real purpose? What the U.S. intelligence services are doing goes so against the U.S. Constitution that it is tantamount to treason.

The potential for future abuse is too great. It must be stopped. For that realization we owe Edward Snowdon.

If these are "little known rules" are they really rules? Or are they rules for some kind of limited minority?

For real clarity regarding the rules for eating at a sushi restaurant there is this old chestnut: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAJeUONc3b0

Is this article any less satiric than the video?

Philly 1 included the best advice in his comment about avoiding such rich friends. If I were eating at an elite, top-notch eating establishment or if I were attending a super high-class private meal those 10 rules above kind of make sense. But there is no chance of that ever happening so I will ignore these rules as I choose. Speaking of such high-caliber banquets and such I wonder if pres. George H.W. Bush was cognizant of the little-known rule admonishing against puking under the table at state dinners.

It is so nice to see such positive news.

A life likely saved and the rescuers properly commended. Great! Those seven students make me proud to be human. Good on 'em.

Kotatsu

He could have explained it better.

Well, I'm waiting.

This is like someone who borrowed a lot of money from you walking up to you and saying, "I could have paid you back yesterday." Then walking away leaving you still empty handed. Is there even a word for such a person?

Different cultures have different standards. What is right for a Yank or Brit woman is not always right for a Japanese woman, at least not until the one-world monoculture takes full effect. For a commenter here to criticize a person for behaving in a way that is normal in her culture and goes back to a period of time when Brits were battling in peat bogs imaginary monsters such as Grendel, and half a millennium before the first proto-Yank ever set foot in North America, is a particularly arrogant and supercilious form of racism that I find sad. What is next? Criticizing Japanese for eating with sticks instead of the proper, civilized eating utensils of fork, knife and spoon? It is not the prerogative of expats living outside their own cultures to sneer at locals. It is to try to understand, accept and adapt to the differences. No one expects expats to wholeheartedly and completely adopt cultures not their own. But a little understanding is essential. Without some understanding of the alien culture they find themselves in expats are nothing more than festering blights with, really, no business stepping outside their own doors in their home countries. That is, if locals on that level would tolerate such bigotry.

The hamburger wrapper is a brilliant solution to the perceived ochobo problem. I find it interesting that at even a fast-food level a problem was noted, analyzed and had a possible solution attempted. And look at the results! A tripling of sales in one demographic! But was it really the ochobo solution that led to the rise in sales or the novelty of having the lower part of one's face transform into a beautiful woman while eating? Maybe both.

Even though he was trying to be ironic, I tend to think that SauloJpn has a point about our Monsanto (or the like) going to Japan and radiated Japanese Fukushima produce coming to the States. This is just conjecture, the offering of a personal opinion, but it is a possibility Japan compromised on the two chemicals in exchange for the U.S. accepting "low levels" of radiation in Japanese "organic" produce. That way, in ten or twenty years the agricultural-industrial complex can, by then, rightly claim that people who eat organic produce are, say, five times more likely to be afflicted with cancer.

My relief must have lit up the clinic when I saw that the anonymous (no name, just a number) result of my HIV test was negative. "Yes!"