EUgirl comments

I watch NHK, where they have pretty decent shows. That one with keitai jokes is a fun one.

And let's not forget: this country produces anime, which is eagerly consumed around the globe.

ptolemy: I base my estimate on the fact that for several years Japanese women's mag reader poll Sexiest Man in Japan winner was Kimutaku, and for just hearing some of their opinions. An don the fact that any Tv drama starring Kimutake takes an automatic 30+% Nielsen rating, higher than anything else on TV.

I don't own any SMAP posters. I am not even a huge fan of them, but still, I would not mind seeing Kimutaku naked. If saying like this half-humorously makes me and millions of Japanese women stalkers, then be it.

Disillusioned: and wearing high-heeled strap sandals when driving.

Here is some interesting trivia on world health statistics:

http://www.nationmaster.com/facts/Health

Remember: those Japanese who are now 80-100 years old, lived their youth during the war, with the men fighting in the army, and in many cases their nutrition being very sparse. During the late days of WWII people hardly had enough rice for ex, in Tokyo.

Disillusioned: Japanese men also generally live longer than European or American men.

I also found this article about 10 times more interesting than the usual crap on on the newest cool restaurant opened in Akasaka or Omotesando, acoompanied by the aforementioned restaurant's advertisement.

I have also a cat whom I rescued as a small kitten from the street. I think the work these two English teachers do is really valuable.

Yeah, I gave up trying make-up at the cosmetics counter even before this.

I think you had 6 swine flu-related deaths in the U.S.

Sebaschan: I read somewhere than laughter boosts the immune system. You should be thankful to me.

Don't Japanese school kids clean their own school, including the toilets? While I think cleaning your school should be adopted to the West as well, cleaning school toilets is a professional's job. Kids can't do it properly, plus they don't know how to do it so that they don't expose themselves to bacteria and stuff.

GW: If you can't remember how your home country's public toilets are, shouldn't you refrain from using sentences like "the locals can't be trusted..", and write instead "people generally can't be trusted"?

In EU, the nation buying the least amount of soap per person are the French. There was some consumer survey on household product buying.

GW: Maybe I'll take an ice hockey stick and wave that to keep folks 6 feet away from me...

Can they be trusted anywhere? In a certain North European country they had to take the hand disinfectants away from hospital public toilets, as the winos would drink it. This thing then surged up with this swine flu, as people started wondering why there was no hand disinfectant in hospital toilets.

How are the public toilets in your native countries? For ex. station ones?

Here is some info on the alcohol-based disinfectants and their use with bacteria and viruses. Seems to offer some safety, if properly used.

http://microbiology.suite101.com/article.cfm/alcohol_based_hand_cleansers

tkoind2: What brand or type of masks do you recommend? I have to take a tightly packed train sometimes...

Rekka: I think one of the Hachioji koukou girls lives in Kawasaki or opposite...Kawasaki koukou girl who lives in Hachioji...

There are actually two girls in Tokyo with the pig flu.

The Tokyo person returned yesterday from U.S. No connection to the Osaka cases.

I think in Japan it spreads faster than in Spain or UK, as in those two countries most cases are on travelers returning from Mexico, whereas here it is an inside the country -epidemic.

It is good that Japanese are cancelling foreign trips, so as not to pass the virus to some new country.

It is nice to see a media company showing some sense of responsibility.

smithinjapan: Contrary to what you claim, not all schools in Japan are closed, only schools in Kobe, Osaka and Hyogo prefecture, plus some voluntary closings of Kyoto schools. And they did close elementary schools too in the infected areas - yesterday they interviewed several mothers on TV, who had elementary school kids staying at home, one mother saying she has problems of finding somebody to take care of her kids when she goes to work etc. So why did you invent the claim that in Osaka/Kobe/Ibaraki they did not close down elementary schools?

Masuzoe just said on TV to an Osaka politician that you should keep your youth home and not running around America mura.

bamboohat: All the Japanese-language reporting that I saw talked about the 4 first cases having been in Canada. Maybe the gaijin who does the translating is to blame?

236 now.

Nakai is the worst singer and a bad actor as well. Kusanagi at least took the trouble of learning Korean, even if it was in order to gain fandom in Korea.

Potsu: I would be happy to see Kimutaku naked. As would about 20 million Japanese women.

I think the virus is already here in Tokyo - how could it not be, if scientists say that this virus has been in the Kansai region perhaps for weeks? It is just a matter of time, that some doctor starts suspecting, now that they know that domestic infection is possible, sends a patient's virus sample to the lab, and bingo.

Certainly more beautiful than this yr's Miss USA.

Well its nice to see a Japanese celebrity with a bit of flesh over her bones.

Kai the dog is the cutest.

Tahooichi: Or with AIDS - the actions worked in some countries, mostly developed, as people did take the precautions seriously. They did not work in places like Africa, where whole villages die in AIDS.

KnowBetter: Amazing. Usually about 10% of the world population get the seasonal influenza during one (1) year, and in your company over 90% managed to get it. They must be in really bad shape.

Kusanagi might be the lucky to be in home arrest - at least no chance for getting the pig flu.

I am happy to see him back. Not that SMAP are great as singers, but I still do watch SMAP Bistro. I was always a Katori Shingo fan, but I think I'll switch to Kusanagi as my favorite SMAP.