Foxy comments

Strange that no one has suggested bears. Bear attacks are not common, but there are lots of them out there, and if females have cubs now, it could be a bit dangerous walking through deep forest, especially alone. The reason many hikers wear those noisy bells on their legs is to warn off bears especially, so Japanese hikers are generally aware of the risk.

Murakami is so intriguing. After reading

Why can this not be about just scrapping or renovating Jingu Stadium and Chichinobu Stadium? Which would mean the rest of the area with its greenery would be unaffected. There are also 3 attractive restaurants with fine terraces along the ginkgo tree street to preserve. It's because major corporations want to take the whole area and spend zillions of yen on a huge area redevelopment. So they have billions to spend on giving big kickbacks to officials involved in the authorisation. Classic corruption. Let people know as little as possible about their plans before everything is signed, of course. Totally disgusting.

It's also true, that millions of the people living in Tokyo really do not give a hoot about nature, and have a horror of insects, etc. Do they care about history, or preserving symbols of it? I fear too many do not care. Tokyo is a major city that is pretty much devoid of the historical vibrations that give old cities their atmosphere. In the end, it seems people get what they deserve if they don't care, and don't fight for their heritage.

A megalomanic psychopath transfigured into the handsome, smiling Kimu Taku. How charming. It's nice to have a rich history with powerful heroes, but it's also important that we recognise what vile characters many of were, and the horrific things they did -- and not foster any kind of hero-worship.

It was 30 years ago I came to Japan, which was about the time we heard the first warnings about global warming. I am still using the kotatsu my first landlord gave me when I moved in all that time ago. In Tokyo, all I need to see me through winter is some warm clothes and my kotatsu. On most days I don't use my gas heater at all. It is amazing how little electricity it uses. It is the main table in my living room, a basic part of my furniture, used just as a table in summer, so there is no feeling of it taking up excessive space.

I think if the government here was serious about reducing the country's use of fossil fuels, they would encourage everyone to get themselves a kotatsu, so they can do their bit towards helping save the planet -- and reduce their energy bills by thousands of yen a month.

Jeff Lee, you have missed Monty's very astute comment about the world as we know it not being here 35 to 40 years from now. Do you not know anything about climate change? We may not have any coffee beans by then, either.

If you have a death penalty, I don't know why you would spare a psycho like this from it. Does 4 years in jail for assaulting kids, comes out and stabs a junior high school, then stabs a nine year old? How long is a life sentence? He will be let out sooner or later, and then what?

Strangerland, I think if my point-of-view was "silly", then office staff would have been bringing dogs and cats to their offices since way back. Why is it they haven't?

If anything is silly, it is comparing a work at home environment with an office environment. The differences are obvious. Your home is your dog ' s home environment too, where it is relaxed and needs little attention. If it is a distraction, it is only for you and no-one else.

To me, if companies want to spend money on attracting staff by improving working conditions, the money would be much better spent on subsidising childcare for people with young kids, rather than on people whose kids are cuddly poodles.

Totally ridiculous. Pets do not belong in offices. Obviously they would be a distraction.

I really dislike this tendency in Japan of treating dogs as humans, dressing them up and pampering them like spoiled kids. Yuck.

In what way is this "French toast"? It has nothing to do France. Where did this strange idea come from?

C. Flag , with his sneering about "whining people", appears to be out of date, and still locked into the Japanese paranoia about letting in foreigners. Japan may have kept numbers down earlier on, but that is not so now. Other countries have opened up without reporting significant zooms in their coronavirus numbers. Is he also sneering at the tens of thousands of (mostly) low-income Japanese who were financially dependent on the tourism industry, when he says the tourist industry is not important? I say "were", because many have lost their businesses altogether.

The link for the article he posted is inaccessible. I note, though, that it is written by JETRO, a government-affiliated organisation, so you can bet it has a spin on it towards the government policy.

One message refers to the environmental movement as "purists". There is nothing puristic in trying to protect the environment. The inference is that the environmental movement has no sympathy with people "frazzled trying to make a living, raise kids, juggle bills.......". For example, a low-income German trying to pay for heating in winter. Yeah, I am on a low income, but I live in a rich country too, called Japan, where people have plenty of support from government and local aid resources. Those involved in the environmental movement have a much wider vision. If we can't stop global warming, everyone will suffer, but the first and worst to suffer will be those in poor countries. For example, think of the hundreds of thousands people whose lives are being destroyed by floods in Pakistan. Over 1100 killed already. Floods, droughts, famine, etc. Africa, Asia, S. America. It's a bit of an insult to suggest that those involved in the environmental movement don't care about people a the lower end of the food chain. They are the ones who are prepared to suffer some hardship, along with everyone else, to try and save the planet.

Global warming is here, everyone. We are in this crisis already, but I don't see many people acting like they realise how deep in the s**t we are. There are lots of people ignoring it, as if it's nothing to do with them, or even denying it, as if it's some kind of conspiracy by the scientists. We all need to be thinking about what we can do to reduce our own personal consumption of carbon- emitting materials. We need to ask what our government is doing to switch from fossil fuels to renewables. The impact of this warming, as we can see already, is going to not just make us uncomfortable, but to damage the environment more every year, impacting agriculture and the food we put on our tables. Please, everyone, get more information about the crisis we are in, and do something.

Nobody wants to say this because it would be very down-marked. I read blue's post about catching and neutering cats, then returning them to the streets, which I admire; but I really think the best thing to do with stray cats, if you can catch them, is to have them "euthanised" by a vet. It is painless and merciful, and, as Antiquesaving says, would save the lives of many birds. I have observed the lived of stray cats around the two places I have lived at in Tokyo over the last 30 years, and have the impression they have pretty hard lives, always having fights over territory, and looking for food. Many probably die from disease or malnutrition anyway.

Hooray! Yes, given that we are already in a crisis situation with global warming, itc is essential that Japan cuts down on t

Mike James: "Who can say this did not within the last million years?" Well, scientists can say, from analysing ice in glaciers which has been around that long. We have had several ice ages during that time, but not warming at this crazy pace. I am with you re. nuclear power, though. Whatever risks it has are more acceptable than the damage global warming is causing, which is going to get worse each year. What kind of planet are we going to leave to our grand-children, I wonder?

More power to geriatrics, then. Except climate-change deniers like Trump, of course. China, Russia, etc, might not be laughing so much when their countries start to suffer big-time from the caused by global warming. So many people with their heads still up their rear ends.

Judging by the lack of laundry you see on verandahs, we also have this ridiculous problem of sun-drying bans in Tokyo too. We have to oppose things like this, and all think about what we can do individually to cut emissions: use baths less, wash clothes less, use cars less, use window shutters, etc, to reduce aircon.

Japan is a country where people co-operate well together in times of national crisis. I hope more people out there will realise that we are already in this crisis, and it is bigger than any crisis any of us has ever faced. Let's get moving.

There are all sorts of ridiculous reactions to this, with people saying democracy is under threat, that this will change history, etc. I agree with Itsonly that this just one twisted, social outcast or just a nutcase who got lucky on the day. No society can really protect itself from such occasional cases of violence except by trying to look after the mental health of everyone. There are always a few that are overlooked by keeping a low profile or isolating themselves.

Basically Japan is such a safe country that security in such situations can be lax. You can see in videos that no security staff are watching Abe's back. Everyone is facing him, no one is facing away from him. That is the basic error the security staff are guilty of.

A truly pathetic situation. At this rate, the govt here will give the tourist industry here such a bad reputation that it will be destroyed. Such a shame, when Japan has just been voted the most popular destination for overseas trips.

Sorry, don't watch TV news much, but I can't understand why huge amounts of money are being spent to send divers down to search the boat, rather than just attaching cables to it and pulling it up. Won't that have to done later, in any case?