edojin comments

Actually, it is an interesting museum. They offer an old-fashioned "prison-style" lunch that is quite tasty. And you get to eat with the prisoners in the main diningroom ... mannequins that are made to look like prisoners. I also got a picture taken of myself "bathing" with a bathroom room full of prisoners.

If you get a chance, I suggest that you visit the prison. But ... it is one place I surely wouldn't want to be "housed" in.

Oops ... made a big error on this one. Didn't mean to say Roppongi ... but my other favorite area that used to lie around Toranomon Hills. This is eating into the Shimbashi area ... another haunt of mine ... which will someday go the way of ultra-modern buildings.

Tried to send this after sending the first comment, which as soon as I hit the send button realized it was wrong. Had to wait for someone else to make a comment as we can't send two comments in a row. So glad "Spanki" made the comment so that I could send this. Gotta get my thinking under control ...

It's Toranomon Hills ... not Roppongi Hills. Wait until Yotsuya Hills, if that is what it's to be called, is completed. More confusion. Too many Moris and too many Hills ...

For we oldtimers ... there goes that area of Roppongi to modernization. Guess it's just a matter of time before the rest of the "Gaijin Ghetto" also goes the way of the disappearing Roppongi nightlife area.

I give her an A-plus for a job well done. That's two winners in a row at the U.S. Embassy here in Tokyo ...

Pull the U.S. military out and what will you have ... why none other than the military of China and Russia playing around right on Japan's doorsteps. The above article is interesting ... but the writer should have interviewed somebody in charge somewhere rather than making it his opinionated article. There's more to this issue than meets the eye (in this article).

One thing you gotta do ... and that is "look" for the key in the completly blackened out area located underneath Zenkoji Temple. When and if you find the key in the dark you will have good luck. And if you're tall like me, go in low as the ceiling appears to be rather low too.

As stated above, William Hagerty is no stranger to Japan. The article says he spent three years in Japan with the Boston Consulting Group management consultancy. And according to other reports, he has close ties to Trump ... so perhaps he can have a direct line of communication with Trump. Let's see what he can do here.

One thing for sure, he will have a hard time topping America's present ambassador here, Caroline Kennedy. She did a great job ... and was here, there and everywhere throughout the country and even in the U.S. when duties called for her to be present.

No age was given for Hagerty in the above story ... but if he is as young as he looks in the photo, perhaps he will have as much or more energy than Ambassador Kennedy did.

So, in a way, according to the last paragraph, Yoshida did make some kind of an apology for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Guess Abe's apology comments will, therefore, be clearer and more to the point. Will wait to see what he actually says ...

As usual ... I merely pick up the remote and click to another station whenever I see such things on the tube ...

From what I gather today (Friday afternoon), Abe did gain a free trip to Moscow where he is to meet Putin again in the near future. Also, it was reported on TV that some kind of a deal might have been reached on allowing former islanders to visit the four disputed islands, but did not pick up the exact details of such a deal. Otherwise... secrecy, secrecy, secrecy ...

I agree with Aly Rustom above. Any gains that are to be made between the two countries will most likely be in Russia's favor.

A former co-worker here in Tokyo once said he was pushed while waiting for a train at a suburban station during the morning rush hour. He said he was standing in front of a bunch of other commuters when a hand suddenly came out of nowhere and shoved him on the back while the train was coming in. A good karate man, he twisted his body to thwart the impact of the push. He said when he turned around to see who had shoved him, everybody just stared ahead as if nothing had happened. And he never did see the pusher.

So ... what I learned from his experience, don't stand in the front of a crowd of people waiting for a train to come in to the station. Try to place yourself somewhere behind that front line. Even if it means not getting a seat ...

As this is, at present, the only Park story on this site today, I will post this comment here. It was shown from Seoul today (Saturday) where huge crowds continued to demonstrate against Park, calling for her "immediate" ouster from the presidency. A "soon" departure can't be soon enough, they are saying.

The least we can say from this article is that the radiation is continuing to make its way to the shores of the western U.S. So if this is true ... where else is the radiation continuing to reach?

Just hope all these figures are not being manipulated by Kuroda and his cronies ... by taking advantage of a lame duck Obama administration that may not be bothered with the markets anymore.

I thought that Koike-san might be able to prevail over the Jiminto barons who are looking for even more monetary handouts via the 2020 Olympics. Seems as if they have overpowered her ... and are now busy counting all the money that will be coming their way. Even if she manages to reduce costs, there's still a lot of money to be thrown around. Hope she will be able to keep her eye on where every yen is going ... and make this public so that the taxpayers will be able to know where their hard-earned money went.

Hope Abe-san asks Putin-san where those missiles are aimed. If any of them are facing anywhere in Japan pressure should be put on Putin to either turn them around in some other direction ... or get them off the island. Actually, they have no business of being up there anyhow.

Nishikori looked like a different player in beating Wawrinka (seen via TV, of course). Hope his body holds up and he can rise to the top in this tournament. To do that though he has to get past Murray who is looking great, too.

Just hope the sky clears up here in the Tokyo area. Really want to see the moon "close up" ...

Lost my gaijin card one time ... and in a very fast period of time it landed up at my local police station. Went there, got it easily ... and now try not to lose it again.

One time I found someone's wallet with money in it and turned it in to the police. They got my address ... and later I was asked if I wanted to have the owner give me a monetary reward for turning it in. I said "no" ... and that was that.

I've heard other people say they lost valuable things here in Japan ... and usually get them back. However, I've had friends say they lost their purses with bank cards in them ... and had money removed from their bank account illegally. So no matter what, better be careful ... and don't lose your valuables anywhere ...

Some of my friends back in the States said via e-mail that they wish those celebrities who said they would move to Canada if Trump won would actually do as they vowed ... head toward the border and get out.

I agree with "outrider" above. Burning the American flag in America is beyond being bad. And displaying the flag of another country while carrying out the protests in the United States is just as bad. Such protesters are showing how anti-American they are.

I always enjoy the various sounds heard at stations here in Japan. Such as the tweeting of birds at Yotsuya JR station and, of course, "The Third Man Theme" at Ebisu. Now we don't have to travel out to Tokyo Disneyland anymore to hear familiar Disney sounds ... just go to a nearby station that plays the music mentioned above ... Gotta get out to Jiyugaoka Station to hear a tune that often pops into mind when I want to enjoy a popular tune to "think" to ...

Have walked through this same area several times during recent visits to Fukuoka ... and never gave thought to the idea that there might be a lot of nothing below me. Although it wasn't funny, had to laugh this morning while watching via TV the street caving in bit by bit.

From what I gather from TV reports from Seoul, many South Koreans are not happy with Park because she did not apologize for all the problems surrounding her and her friend. She merely explained what happened ... and the citizens are demanding much more than this ... something like a heartfelt apology. Surely she will be under even more pressure to resign ...

If Lady Gaga really wants to see Tokyo ... why doesn't she get a bicycle and cycle around the city. She can see and do more that way ... especially if she has a good guide. And, if she really wants to see the city and do things right ... walk. This is a city made for walking ... again, lots of things to see and do.

And if Lady Gaga really wants to see some really great things, she should cycle or walk around the many other places in Japan that offer all kinds of excitement, beauty, culture, etc. Why not just move here Lady Gaga ... and really tune in to things Japanese.

Great Series! All seven games ... but Game No. 7 was the best of all. Rooted for both teams in what was a zig-zag tourney. Good to see the Cubbies finally break their long title drought. Next hope the Indians can break theirs ... next year ... or the next ... or .... If the Cubs can win again next year ... then all of us won't have to wait for up to 108 years to see it happen again.

Yet another delay? Well, nothing new here. Abenomics has been a failure since day one when it was proposed.

My Chinese friends here in Tokyo are always watching Chinese movies from back home on their keitais. They love these films. Take into consideration that there are about 1.5 billion Chinese over there in China, watching movies can become a really big thing. Ang Lee is right ...

While looking into racism in Japan the study should look at the ekidens ... the team races where runners pass off the ribbon to the next runner in each leg. In the past foreign runners could run in their specialty distances. Recently, however, foreign runners are bunched in one rather short leg where they have to compete against each other no matter what their specialty distance is. I find this very racist as the organizers of these ekidens apparently don't want the foreign runners to "spoil" or "overshadow" performances by Japanese runners.

I say go back to the old system where foreign runners can run the distances they do best in ... not in one leg that is usually a shorter distance than they are prepared to run.