genshijin comments

Yamanote line parties with lights smashed, passengers with beer thrown over then if they complain. Sadly mostly foreigners. It is an abuse of social freedoms.

The kickback is punishing everyone just having a good time and a night out drinking.

I guess many students will first have to study Japanese which will be at least a year given up and have to be paid for. Not so advantageous compared to studying in an English speaking country when many will have spent time studying English already in their own country.

Then there is the Japanese yen.... a few years ago very strong but now weak. They will see there is demand as courses are now cheaper for foreigners. Why not overcharge them :-P

YrralToday 07:35 pm JST

Do like the Russian did encase it in cement

Most likely the cause of the ground water contamination which will not stop until removed. If the foundation base has been compromised, encasing in concrete will do no good. May also be a risk that from another earthquake, material could be moved so that there is enough together to cause a fire again.

Disgraceful use of popular animation characters to get people (most likely kids) hooked on junk food.

Thought Japan was better than that .... UK construction health and safety; Work on or near fragile roof surfaces requires a combination of stagings, guard rails, fall restraint, fall arrest and safety nets slung beneath and close to the roof. Fragile roofs: all roofs should be treated as fragile until a competent person has confirmed they are not.

Bring back the wolves - Japan has such a large area of forested land. Hiking is growing rapidly again and does not mix well with guns. Several times we met a hunting club around the Nikko area and received a few kilos of fresh venison but the quality varies greatly depending on the sex, age of the animal, and the cut.

Knew someone in Japan who left a bank book and card on the seat of a car with the PIN number written on the card :-P

They were stolen and by the time it was reported they had taken over a million yen. The account supposedly had around 80 million yen in it.

May have been watching people at the cash machine if that is where he got the money. Could be other places where it is quite easy to see people getting cash.

Accidental hiking deaths with no body found occur in mountainous areas quite often around Tokyo but that does not seem likely in her case. Although reports claim she had epilepsy, given her age she was managing it well. There are a lot of quiet mountain road tracks that lead into very wild forest and dense bamboo so it would be very easy to hide a body in that area, or use as a location for suicide (suggested unlikely by family).

Most people already know they have to pay the full cost of rescue... they just do not think it is going to happen to them. There is no voluntary rescue service like the UK and people have always had to get insurance to pay for mountain rescue in Japan.

It is not cheap though. Most services want annual cover costs and lots of people go hiking less than 5 times a year. The Post Office used to offer an easy over the counter insurance for the weekend but that might have finished. I hiked 30-45 weekends a year in Japan for over 20 years but rarely got insurance except for tossing a 5 yen coin into a shrine collection box. We were experienced but as they say in Japan, 'even monkeys fall out of trees'. We did a lot of difficult trips.

And I heard it is cheaper to buy cedar from China than pay workers in Japan to cut down and process the timber :-P

The prescription meds do not stop or greatly reduce it or they wouldn't be losing billions in productivity... they do help some symptoms though.

I had a maximum score on the allergy test and the only way to get through the season was avoiding going out as much as possible and using a HEPA filter in the bedroom. Drying washed clothes inside rather than outside, Coats and clothing that had been worn outside kept near the main door and away from other rooms - especially bedroom. Try and keep the bedroom like a silicon wafer factory clean room and wash your hair before bed otherwise sleep was difficult. Going outside the effect of pollen was delayed so that by that night and into the next day I was worse - blocked up, eyes puffed up.

They promised to release sublingual allergy drops through the national health system but backtracked on that. They do work and help most people but I guess the private medical system cost is at least 6,000 yen per month and it takes at least 18 months of treatment.

The cedar planted on so called 'barren' mountains were not barren at all. You can see natural re-growth when sections of cedar plantations are cut down. Power companies planted a lot as they are better at controlling erosion near streams and rivers that flow into man-made lakes - dams and hydroelectric schemes. Those dense cedar forests have very little else living in them compared to natural forests.

Latest UK data from the office of national statistics has 1 in 40 people being infected.

Seigi

Wow! Wow! Wow!!! It really isn't going down!

Same in most places that it is never going away (completely) - not seasonal like flu and much more infectious. It is always going to be there 365 days a year.

We have already released more CO2 than there has been in the atmosphere for nearly half a million years. Now that is causing a feedback loop releasing methane stored below oceans and under permafrost. More heating and more methane release ... It is worrying that it might be too much to reverse.

Sometimes it is a case of just 'wrong place, wrong time'. I was waiting to meet someone near the north exit of Koiwa JR station when a yakuza car pulled up. Looked like the boss was walking someone important into the station. The driver (thug) was waiting at the car then decided I was suspicious and walked over. Fists ready and glaring nose to nose. I just waiting then said in Japanese I was just waiting for a friend. He didn't back off. He was as big as the biggest sumo wrestlers I have seen but solid muscle. I do a lot of hiking, badminton, squash but his arms were bigger than my thighs. He was an oversized gorilla. Then the boss came back and struggled to pull him away. The police box wasn't far away but probably in their pockets. Looked the type that really enjoyed his job threatening and beating people up. Only happened the once in many years and it is not worth escalating situations.

Another weapon ready to be repurposed by Skynet.

Maybe the insects that survive will pass on genes to generate more unusual flight patterns that might be harder to track, or evasion by sensitivity to a laser lock on before firing. Different behaviour patterns etc. Moths have evolved similar tactics against bats.

Hope they do not start fires or hit someones eye behind a target in the line of fire. Or a software glitch that turns it on full blast on flamable material.

Most of Japan is probably a danger zone for landslides. It does not need to be a steep place to happen. When the big ones hit Kanto and Tokaido there will be landslides everywhere.

Photo looks like the tower scene out of Westworld where all humans are controlled - not far off in real life.

ジョージ

owever, there’s also a lot of hydrogen sulfide and sulfurous acid gas that seeps out of the ground in the area around the Killing Stone.

Boars have good noses, right? Wouldn't the smell of the gases have kept them away?

Look it up... usually taught in early year science class as the poisonous gas that smells like rotten eggs and the smell ' disappears' after about 20 minutes. You lose the ability to smell it so it has not gone and is still poisoning you as you breate it in without knowing. Also heavier than air so can sit in pools of low lying land (as above).

painkiller

Japan reports 43,555 new coronavirus cases

Giant numbers. And will continue to rise, as infections are in an upward trend.

Huge positivity rate in this highly vaccinated country.

Singapore is seeing a huge increase - also a highly vaccinated country. XBB strain is beginning a rapid take over.

SeawolfToday 09:15 pm JST

Meanwhile Chamonix has already seen 30cm of snowfall...

Uhm, Chamonix is in the middle of a large alpine mountain range crossing several countries and about 1,000km further north than Fuji.

"An eyewitness said she was attempting to retie the rope when she fell..."

This should not happen if the knot is tied properly - grave error on her part and any other person that might have been next to her who should have checked.

Talk about twisting facts...

JTC Today 12:43 am JST

I am not "vaccinated" against COVID, and I stand-by, my own personal reasons for not being vaccinated against this virus.

Take Malaria as an example... it exists in Japan, not common place, though exists apparently... we have a lot of mosquitos here....

https://idsc.niid.go.jp/iasr/18/213/tpc213.html

And if you look at the US based CDC web page of inoculations they recommend for visitors to Japan ...

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/japan

(But not... Malaria)

Because domestic cases of malaria are extremely rare... read the report you quoted about how people were infected in Japan. Even if 1 case then you could say every disease exits in Japan... but not common place. Should we me vaccinated for every possible disease a vaccine protects from - no, of course not. Is Covid extemely rare... no. Are you at risk in Japan - yes. Just because you claim it is mild for you does not apply to everyone else.

Mask wearing and basic hygiene have been good in Japan (as always) and they have escaping the worst effects of the earlier virus versions. New strains are so much better at spreading that I do not think it can be stopped as easily - example Shainghai. All people need to be fully vaccinated to protect the health service.

The writer's advice:

If you find yourself lost or in danger:

Call emergency rescue by dialing 119.

Stop, think and stay calm.

If there is no immediate danger, stay put.

As a last resort, follow a stream downhill.

You would be better retracing your steps and following the path back. One thing you should never do is follow a stream downhill if you do not know the terrain. In Japan the mountains are relatively geologically young, so they are steep and prone to landslides. Many stream valleys have waterfalls and big vertical drops. Unless you have local knowledge of the area, or a map and experience to judge the terrain, you should not go down a stream valley. In general, you would be safer staying on the ridge.

The writer warns about bears but around Chuzenjiko giant hornets are a bigger threat - the area is full of them. If you disturb them they will attack. Only place I got stung by one during my first 6 months in Japan (in 1992) when I stood on a fallen tree trunk on the lake shore for a view. I was very lucky to get only one sting as many others were emerging when I got out of the way. Leg calf swollen double size for 5 days. Not something you would want on your neck. After that (25 years) I was worried about anaphylactic shock from a second sting. Almost every time I went to wilder places around Nikko I saw them. I did a lot of bushwalking in Japan but there are risks. For most people it is better to follow the Japanese standard advice - stay on the path. Many Japanese hikers wear full length trousers and often long sleeved shirts, even in summer.

As it happened I did walk into a bear the next morning on a trail to Ashio from the lake. We were less than 3 feet apart with a bush between us. The bear looked just as shocked as I was and ran up a steep incline and into a hole. A dog could not run that fast up such a steep slope... wouldn't like to try and out run one. While bear bells are good advice you rarely see any wildlife if you carry one but you can see the advantages of using one.

Outdoor Club Japan

Didn't mention the campsites which are very good and free last time I went. There was a road to one of the black beaches with a shrine nearby that got covered in pyroclastic flow last time. Hope it has regenerated. That area was always ringing loudly with the sound of suzumushi and renouned for bird watching. Cycling is a good way to spend 2 or 3 (better) days travelling around the island.

Due to rugged cliffs many places are difficult to enter the water for a swim.

Outdoor Club Japan

Also, The Uk has already lost 170-200,000 people to covid but Japan less than 30,000. Even after losing 200,000 vulnerable people they are still losing 4 times as many as Japan on a daily basis adjusting for population.