Posted in: Do you have to pay the NHK fee? See in context
I highly, highly, highly doubt they check if you’d paid NHK for getting PR. If they told you that, they were probably kidding.
4 ( +4 / -0 )
Posted in: Japan 'baby hatch' man empowers kids via program to live best life See in context
The man in this story was three or four when he was dropped off - far from an infant! Glad he got lucky with his foster parents.
7 ( +7 / -0 )
Posted in: Ishiba criticized in Japan for 'bad manners' at APEC summit See in context
I think there should have been criticism of his praise for Fujimori - a dictator. But Japanese blood trumps all, I guess
5 ( +5 / -0 )
Posted in: Ishiba says he hopes to work with Trump, not confront him See in context
Trump says he can’t meet foreign leaders until he’s actually president? I call BS. He met Abe within days of the 2016 election.
i suspect Japan will have a rough time without Abe.
-1 ( +2 / -3 )
Posted in: How Japan raises resilient children See in context
I don't think Japanese are especially resilient at all. There's a certain endurance that folks are good at - that comes out after disasters - but I think that's different from resilience because people are taught to face quakes and trained in disaster drills from an early age, so in a sense there's a script for it.
If things in life go off-script here, I think there's often trouble in responding to it, especially in healthy ways. Especially because the "ganbaru" spirit is hyped so much; folks with mental health issues tend to think they're at fault because they should have tried harder, rather than being encouraged to see it as illness.
0 ( +1 / -1 )
Posted in: A man's world: Japan makes tepid push on gender gap in politics as election nears See in context
Yes, the gender gap in Japan is being commented on by a number of international organizations so I think it's definitely giving Japan some negative attention. Surprisingly, my district has not only a woman incumbent running for the LDP but she's half Uyghur.
6 ( +7 / -1 )
Posted in: New aquarium resident See in context
I have seen a whale shark while diving in the ocean, from about three meters away. No animal like that should be imprisoned in an aquarium, especially not one that's already lost two of the animals. Yes, that wasn't the aquarium's fault, but the animals died anyway. Whale sharks aren't especially endangered but they also aren't as common as bonito, either.
1 ( +3 / -2 )
Posted in: Japanese Trump supporters See in context
The Japanese do not want war. As president, Trump did not start any new wars. But all hell broke loose under the current admin, so I'm not surprised some want a return to peace.
Actually, Trump is the one who negotiated the withdrawal from Afghanistan that went so disastrously. He pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, which could easily have led to war. And his buddy-buddy treatment of Putin definitely gave Mr Vlad the idea the West wouldn't protest if he went to war in Ukraine, even if the war didn't happen under Trump.
5 ( +11 / -6 )
Posted in: Floods, landslides cause more damage in quake-hit Noto region See in context
Sakurasuki, the quake was on New Year’s Day. That worsened the psychological impact. If you don’t know that, you don’t live here. Yes, there were complaints about how it was handled. But how can people prepare for weather events months ahead of time?
8 ( +8 / -0 )
Posted in: Japanese mom says she kicked wild bear while holding baby in her arms after sudden scary encounter See in context
100 meters is nothing. She should have driven it? Much of Otsuchi is now clustered together after being destroyed on 3/11.
The big problem with bears in Tohoku is they’re now coming right down into inhabited areas too.
7 ( +9 / -2 )
Posted in: Tokyo Gaien redevelopment under review amid conservation protest See in context
Dango bongToday 07:54 am JST
if you want trees go to Niigata, this is Tokyo
I hope this is sarcasm too. By now we all know what a difference greenery makes to the heat and so on during summer.
17 ( +19 / -2 )
Posted in: Typhoon approaches southwestern Japan; train service disruptions expected See in context
NHK now specifically says “please don’t go out to check on the River or the fields.”
-1 ( +3 / -4 )
Posted in: Japan ministers Kono, Kamikawa plan to run in ruling party race See in context
I've met Kono a number of times as part of work and yes, I'll agree that he's smart, knowledgeable, and likable. He's not perfect and has made some definite missteps in his past posts, but he went through all four years of university at Georgetown in a regular program, not some special foreign student thing, which at the very least sets him apart from most of the others. I have a friend who knew him at Georgetown and said he was really nice and also that you could tell even then he was going places. He doesn't play this up, but he also contributed part of his liver to save father Yohei Kono's life about 15 years ago. Sad that in Japan 60 is considered "very young" to be leader....but at least he's not cookie-cutter and he might be better equipped to deal if, say, Harris is elected in the US.
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: Japanese worried and confused after first-ever megaquake advisory See in context
Most of the people I know have used this as a chance to recheck their emergency supplies, which I think was a big part of the government's intention here. But other parts, like slowing the Shinkansen and Kishida putting off his trip (although given that he's quitting, maybe something else was operating there) is a clear over-reaction. We're seeing the same thing in the reaction to the typhoon, with JR Tokai halting all Shinkansen between Nagoya and Tokyo all day - and making the decision on WEDNESDAY. A lot can change with storm courses in a day.
I think that living in such a disaster-prone area has given all of Japan a certain level of General Anxiety Disorder which NHK, which claims disaster-preparedness as a big part of its brief, tends to feed when something looms. It's gotten worse since 3/11, which was the worst quake to affect Tokyo in decades. I also think there's the danger that issuing these warnings could mean later ones are shrugged off, but we'll see.
3 ( +4 / -1 )
Posted in: Murao gets silver in men's 90-kg judo See in context
I hate the kind of article that starts "failed to win gold," though I guess because the athlete himself was in tears that might be okay this time. Love the photo...what sportsmanship!
7 ( +7 / -0 )
Posted in: Yen hits 2-month high of 154 against dollar on BOJ rate hike speculation See in context
Currency markets aren't totally logical and they can react wildly to the least thing. A potential interest rate hike would actually be fairly significant. I think the dollar's falling a bit due to the changed US election picture too, at least for now.
9 ( +10 / -1 )
Posted in: Surge in inbound tourists pushes Japan to explore dual pricing See in context
There was an article the other day on Barcelona raising a tourist tax, and no one batted an eye
A tourist tax is applied uniformly to all visitors; it's apples and oranges to having a two-tiered pricing system at establishments.
That said, you can vote with your feet and not patronize any two-tier pricing places.
14 ( +14 / -0 )
Posted in: ANA to ramp up Tokyo-Europe flights to stoke travel demand See in context
Why don’t they just admit they’re doing it to play to the inbound boom? Airfares AND the weak yen are doing a lot to dampen this “demand they want to spark.”
5 ( +8 / -3 )
Posted in: Japan gov't vows best possible info-sharing on U.S. crimes in Okinawa See in context
Just another example of Japan treating Okinawa like a vassal state. Outrageous.
-11 ( +4 / -15 )
Posted in: Gender gap fuels disputes as Japan gets joint custody law See in context
I personally know of at least two cases where the child was taken from the mother and custody given to the father, including a case where both parents were Japanese. And I know a case where the Japanese father abducted the child and wouldn't let the foreign mother see it. So while many of these custody cases in the past have involved the mother getting custody, it hasn't always been the case.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Only 10.4% want PM Kishida to continue to serve: poll See in context
Motegi is charming at the bit. Another political blue blood and not a pleasant person either; very arrogant. Or Ishiba.
Wouldn’t mind Kono Taro because he thinks outside the box and at least makes some decent use of social media, showing he’s not hopelessly out of touch. But the powers that me are afraid he might really change things, so he’s unlikely to get the ch as nice until he’s at least 70 and has had his youthful passions pounded out of him.
0 ( +2 / -2 )
Posted in: Japanese convenience store allows use of initials on name tags to prevent harassment by customers See in context
Reminds me of many years ago when my brother worked at a local conbini in the US. They were required to put titles on their name tags, so he put "Serf." He enjoyed the few customers who actually noticed and laughed about it.
10 ( +12 / -2 )
Posted in: 'Star Trek' actor George Takei determined to keep telling his Japanese American story See in context
Why keep playing the victim card nearly 80 years after the war ended? Let. it. go.
He was a victim. It was a totally racially-motivated disregard for human rights. I researched this in high school and still remember a newspaper clipping headlined "Three Enemy Aliens Arrested." from just after Pearl Harbor. A German man was arrested with bomb-making materials, an Italian man - and they weren't even US citizens - with guns. A Japanese-American young woman was arrested for having just returned from study in Japan.
Given Trump's threat to set up camps for illegal migrants prior to their deportment, we need fresh and constant reminders that this HAS happened in the US, and it could well happen again.
7 ( +11 / -4 )
Posted in: Japanese firms offer highest pay hike in 32 years in spring wage talks See in context
Salaries are still pathetic in comparison to so much of the G7.
-10 ( +27 / -37 )
Posted in: Electric scooter accidents in Japan surge after rules eased See in context
I see a lot of people riding on these every morning on my way to work. While I appreciate the cool factor, not one person is wearing a helmet. I don’t particularly care about licenses, but the fact that a lot of these folks are riding up a busy Tokyo road with no helmets seems like an accident waiting to happen. Call me a worrywart, but I was in a cycling accident that broke my collarbone and may have hit my head, but I was helmeted so no problems. I also know somebody who had a major head injury when using a skateboard, so I’m a bit hyper.
9 ( +12 / -3 )
Posted in: Tokyo Tsukiji fish market site to be redeveloped with 50,000-seat stadium, hotel, shopping center See in context
Pretty much as a taxi driver predicted to me a number of years ago. His view was that the Yomiuri Giants don’t really have their own stadium, therefore. No surprise then for the Yomiuri a Shimbun to be one of the developers.
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: Japan's Paris Olympic Games uniforms unveiled See in context
Actually both Russia and Belarus will be competing, but without their official names, anthems etc. We could t have the Olympics without them, no matter what they do…(this is irony).
9 ( +11 / -2 )
Posted in: Japan lower house OKs bill to allow joint custody after divorce See in context
Gone are the days of children being basically kidnapped by one selfish parent (usually the mother) or for dads being told to basically bugger off.
Actually, more of the cases I've known personally have been the father totally shutting the mother out. I have a friend who had to stand across the street from her child's school to see him after the divorce...
-6 ( +6 / -12 )
Posted in: Kishida arrives in U.S. for summit, state dinner See in context
I’m guessing the kids are from a DC-area Japanese language school
11 ( +14 / -3 )
Posted in: Japan to limit number of asylum applications to speed up deportations See in context
Wow, what a mean-spirited crew! What about care for suffering fellow human beings?
If any of the commenters are from Australia, New Zealand, the United States or Canada, your ancestors were all immigrants or refugees. It's not as if any of these people are coming here illegally (the US problem), they're trying to do everything legally but of course, Japan accepts only a fraction of the applicants.
And there IS a labor shortage here. Refugees, and immigrants in general, are something this country needs.
Interestingly, Ukrainians here are evaluated by completely different standards and not even called refugees. Could the color of their skin be the reason? Nahhhh....no way....
-5 ( +8 / -13 )
Posted in: Trump signs plan for reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners, ushering in economic uncertainty
Denuclearize you first, clown!!..
Posted in: Trump wants denuclearization talks with Russia and China
Posted in: Trump signs plan for reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners, ushering in economic uncertainty
Posted in: Kennedy confirmed by Senate as U.S. Health Secretary