edojin comments

The headline to this article could easily read: U.S. ready for war if Kim wants it." Will Kim explode another nuclear device or launch more missiles during his current celebrations? If he does, look out ... boom! If not, it will indicate that he folded under pressure of a possible U.S. attack. An interesting few days lie ahead of us ...

Saw in another article where, if attacked, the North Koreans might take aim at Japan's nuclear facilities ... either by missiles or on-the-ground terrorist-like attacks. There's enough trouble here with the Fukushima fiasco ... and if the North Koreans do retaliate against a yet-to-happen attack on them, there could be even more nuclear problems to deal with down the road. So ... just shut down all the nuclear reactors ... get rid of them entirely ... and try safer forms of generating electrical power.

Saw Peggy singing at the U.S. Navy's off-base Club Alliance in Yokosuka way back when. It was the first Japanese I saw singing in English ... and she was perfect in her delivery. She was also still young and very pretty. She had a nice long life ... and she continued to sing nicely up until the end.

Like some stated above, I, too, don't fly United anymore. Too many bad experiences with its nasty personnel. Saw the video ... and thought it was, well, awful. Yep ... yet another reason not to fly United ...

As MsDelicious said above, many of those bicycles probably have been stolen and abandoned by the thief that took them. Some friends have lost their bicycles this way ... and a couple of months or so later they are informed by the police that their bikes have been found and if they want them they can pick them up at a certain place. Be sure to lock your bicycles when parking them ... or else you, too, may be walking ...

Still remember the toilet paper crisis from the 1970s. Now, today, 2017, we have a potato chip crisis. Better get some chips before the shelves go empty. Ah well, guess they're already out of stock ... everywhere ... Blimy ...

Sounds good. I love cherry pie! Gotta try this special drink/pie(?) ...

Otani was playing with a damaged ankle, then tore an upper muscle in the other leg. That's what sometimes happens when a person plays with an injury ... that is, something else in the body goes haywire. The Fighters should have stuck with the original doctor's verdict that Otani should be out of action for a certain length of time until the injury heals. By having him play with the injury, he is now tending to another injury. They should be glad he didn't injure an arm, especially his pitching arm.

ISIS is not only in Syria ... it's spread out everywhere around the world. To defeat ISIS in Syria might be possible, but it also has to be taken down elsewhere. Then once ISIS is defeated, as Trump wishes, what about al-Quaida and the other terrorist Islamic groups? This battle is far from over ...

1,000 idols ... that's a lot of people. If they perform one after another end on end an hour each, it will take 1,000 hours just to see everyone perform. And even if they are given a cubicle for each individual or group, it would take lots of time to see everyone. Sounds like an idol/fan jam headed toward the Budokan. Anyway, let's see if the sponsors can figure out how to please everyone ...

An aquaintance was on the Bataan Death March. He was an American schoolteacher in the Philippines when it fell to the Japanese. He not only survived the march, but he also survived the rest of the war in the prison camp to which he was sent. And then ... as far as I know ... he lived out the rest of his life right here in Japan. The last time I saw him he told me he was teaching English to a group of old women in Chiba Prefecture. He was an old man then, so I doubt if he is still alive today. One interesting thing about him, if I asked him a question about his experiences in the march and camp, he didn't have an answer. Yet, during our numerous talks, he would bring up things that happened during the march and time spent in the camp.

Abe's idea behind Premium Friday is to increase consumption. But, according to the above article: "Abe left his office early to do “zazen,” or seated meditation, at a temple on Feb. 24 when the “Premium Friday” campaign began, and went to his vacation house outside of Tokyo on March 31, the second Premium Friday." So ... how did Abe help increase consumption when he himself apparently did not spend any money during the two Premium Fridays? He better stop being a hypocrite and get out there and spend some of his rich family's money. Abe-san, show us that you indeed want to increase consumption by setting a good example ...

And ... here comes the Carl Vincent aircraft carrier group. It reportedly is headed for the Sea of Japan. So ... if North Korea wants to become too belligerant ... it had better be prepared for some kind of response.

'Twas a wild game in Osaka with the Swallows and Tigers involved in a bench-clearing brawl. At least they have plenty of spirit in the early stages of the new season.

Good start for Nationals & Orioles. Hope they are still in first place in their respective leagues at the end of the season.

Dragons played stupid baseball against Giants ... and lost all three games in their opening series ending Sunday. If the Dragons keep playing like this, they'll be last again.

Taters on Mars. Sounds great. Now there's another reason to visit that inviting planet.

Oh yes ... read the book "The Martians." Not only a good movie ... but a great read ...

Read the above story carefully. As it indicates, there seems to be a massive cover-up concerning the fallout from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear reactors. What more will come out of this on-going disaster ... ??

Now that Nagoya has agreed to rebuild the present castle keep with one made of wood, like the original keep, I, too, support such a move. I have been to Nagoya Castle several times and rate it below numerous other castles I have visited throughout Japan. Just hope I am still able to do all that walking around the keep and up to the top floor when it is completed in 2022 or later ...

Enjoyed "zichi's" two castle items above ...

That the military-building Chinese are worried about Japan's adding an extra anti-submarine aircraft carrier to its fleet is a joke. While the Chinese are busy building up their military they don't want anybody else to challenge them anywhere. So Japan ... and most probably a lot of other Asian countries ... had better be prepared to take on a strong Chinese military front.

This means that the price of chicken will rise locally. Guess we'll be seeing more chicken from China, Thailand and elsewhere from overseas. Bird flu ... bad stuff ...

The Major League scouts got to see some really good Japanese pitching. Bet we'll see some of them in the Majors down the road. 'Twas a pitchers' duel all the way. Next up: power hitting vs. power hitting in the U.S. vs. Puerto Rico. Should be a good game.

This has probably been reported before, but this is the first time I've seen this bit of personal information: The 65-year-old has a reputation for fastidiousness and as president reportedly refused to use toilets that had been employed by others, with her staff said to insist facilities be replaced before she arrived on official visits.

Wonder what she will do if she has to go to prison? Will she get a new toilet installed in her cell? And what if someone else should use it? Well ... that's her problem ...

Am still not used to putting two runners on base from the 11th inning on. But it does save on extra use of a pitcher's arm in long drawn out extra inning games. 'Twas a good game. Next Puerto Rico will face either Japan or the U.S. for the overall title. Japan has the edge in pitching, so it will be up to U.S.'s hitters to get to them. Should be a good game.

My neighbor is thin ... and she wants to get thinner. She envies her "super thin" university classmates ... and wants to try to look like them. To do so, she recently went two weeks without eating any food ... and ended up in the hospital. Upon being released, she was told to eat properly. Well, she found a new way to get thin. Skip breakfast, then eat a hefty lunch. She would then go into a bathroom, put a finger down her throat and throw up what she just ate. She said she felt really good after this. To make a long story short, she is now doing hospital time once again for a body that is going haywire. I saw her the other day and she said she is back to eating again, and even had breakfast that particular day.

Apparently the thin look is in among young (and even old) women ... and undoubtedly other girls/older women are doing similar things to get thin. Nice to be thin ... but gotta feed the body what it needs to remain healthy.

Was there today (Monday). I thought today was the opening day ... and a guard told me it is April 20, which is what the article above says. The building is finished ... and the stores are setting up their sales areas. Should be an interesting place to visit ... when it opens.

When actually living in countryside cities in Japan, one tends to learn all the very nice things about the local area. So, after a while, Manny might enjoy living in Kochi ... and traveling around Shikoku. I enjoyed Kochi very much as well as exploring Shikoku. Lots to see and do in that area ...

If these people would just tell the truth from the outset of the shady revelations things wouldn't be as bad. But they keep saying things like "I can't remember" and "I don't know," which makes them sound even more guilty than what they probably are.

Tillerson doesn't need a batch of White House reporters tailing him around Asia. The American-operated news agencies and newspapers have local based correspondents that can do the job just as well. Besides, locally based correspondents should know the local turf much better than those following from Washington. In addition to the correspondents, there will also be throngs of local journalists from the local news media on hand. So Tillerson should be getting enough news coverage overall, from all angles.

A good, exciting game. However, while watching it on TV I got tired of the commentators continuously saying "major leaguer(s)." They used this term so many times it almost sounded "racist." Why couldn't they just say "the Netherlands," "Holland" or "Dutch"? It begins to sound as if the poor Japanese league player is going up against a much more powerful foe the way the term "major leaguer" is bounced around. Monday's daytime TV shows also kept coming up with the same element of "usage" (would that be the correct term here?) ... pointing out that it is "major leaguer" this or "major leaguer" that. Oh well, guess that "major leaguer" term will be used throughout the rest of the tourney. Whatever ...