George Townes comments

That's a 23% positivity rate. Not good. Not good at all.

SOE ending as cases see their highest number in a month. Great timing.

Will not get this or the Russian vaccine. Even if they were transparent with data, I wouldn't trust it.

Remember J-Gov this will be a two way street. You have to allow international travelers the ability to enter Japan if they prove they have been vaccinated.

If you get this message and are illegally sharing an account, how is Netflix going to keep you from asking the account owner from forwarding the text message via a SNS.

"Lifting the measures will be based on putting in place a system to ensure there's not a rebound in cases,"

Cases will rebound as Japan is so far behind in vaccinations. When the PM goes to the US, he should ask Joe advice on how to speed things up. Come on J-Gov. Start promoting GO TO VACCINATE.

As the article stated: All of them recovered after receiving treatment. The emphasis should be put on the fact that they are all fine and now have a level of protection against the virus that they did not have prior to vaccination.

Don't worry everyone, we will all get innoculated in due time. But we all have to remember where the government's priorities lie - with those #$%&! Olympics.

And by the way I have to say, hey J Gov, get over your past failures and realize that the majority of the public wants these vaccines and they want them now. Stop testing on a couple hundred Japanese and trust the numbers from all the studies being conducted on tens of thousands of people. Trust the science behind the reliable vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna and Astra-Zeneca) and get us the shots you promised us. I think we need a Biden type administration to be put in place so we can get back to normalcy. I am only in my early 50s but at this rate I will be lucky to get my vaccine before I retire.

Pretty cool.

I still take pride in my Japanese speaking, reading and writing abilities. All of which benefited greatly from apps and other tech.

That Onyaku ai translator sounds like Elmer Fudd

No, it is a Japanese person (probably works for Rozetta) speaking and the speech is being translated in real-time.

From the article：

Check out this video, which demonstrates Onyaku’s ability to accurately capture English speech, even with a strong accent, and translate it into Japanese almost immediately.

Supercomputer shows doubling masks offers little help preventing viral spread.

This headline is misleading. It shows why semantics is important.

It should state that it offers little additional help in preventing viral spread.

"Enough fussing and whining. How much longer will the crying go on?" Bolsonaro told a crowd at an event. "How much longer will you stay at home and close everything? No one can stand it anymore. We regret the deaths, again, but we need a solution."

I say the solution is staring the people of Brazil right in the face. Vote this bozo out of office.

Let's use some simple math to come to a resolution.

Since 80% back a cancellation or postponement, how about limiting spectators to 20%.

Of course, I am joking. Only thing that makes 100% sense is cancelling the Olympics outright?

My wife and I use our separate surnames and our family (as part of the social system) is doing fine. Old, archaic thinking is what will led to the collapse of the social system, not whether someone is allowed to retain their surname. As the saying goes...'What's in a name?'

@Zoroto Which is it? And if they are NOT anti-vaxxers, as you claim, where is your proof? Again, you post carries no weight if you don't back it up with references.

They ARE anti-vaxxers. 100% anti-vaxxers. Here is a link, showing that they are in fact anti-vaxxers.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/australian-open-2021-final-crowd-booing-novak-djokovic-trophy-presentation-120240410.html

Approved vaccines that have been tested on tens of thousands with no major side effects. What should we do? We will have to test that on a few hundred Japanese, just to make sure it is safe and even then there will be a hesitantcy for this. This drug made in Japan with inconclusive findings and with known side effects (albeit in animals). Fuji, stick to making film and let the real scientist make science backed vaccines and reliable medicines.

There’s too much anti self-restraint going on right now.

Bingo. My sentiments exactly.

This commentator hit the nail on the head. Which is usually not welcome in Japan, but in this case is spot on.

I am supportive of the economy, but rather than going out to eat, I get carryout to support restaurants in and around my area.

At least two of the clusters of infections have been specifically linked to eating establishments where patrons ate, drank and talked there way into getting infected.

Hundreds have died in the US after vaccination. In about 1/3 of cases they died within 48hrs.

I am going to go out on a limb and say this is fake news that was debunked. See below

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN28K1U3

If not, where is your refrence to this information.

One case.

There have been no reports of serious side effects of the vaccine developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. and Germany's BioNTech SE.

It again is one case. No one has died in any country from the vaccine.

I can't wait to get vaccinated.

Presiding judge Noriko Yokota recognized the validity of the school to set and enforce rules relating to coloring hair, saying “Such rules have been established as having a reasonable and legitimate educational purpose, and so maintaining student discipline is within the discretion of the school.”

Rules on making sure hair is colored black is neither reasonable or legitimate. And has not educational purpose whatsoever. Sounds like the teachers and the school were being bullies. And here, I thought Japan was all in on the anti-bullying campaign.

Sometimes I wonder how people in a position of authority and power got to where they are. Bunch of .... (can't say what I want to say, least I get censured of have my post removed. )

Well, with his support it's a given that the Olympics will happen for sure.

Stop this Olympics nonesense already. 80% of Japanese don't care and most of the world probably feels the same. Take the money that you would spend on these #$"!% Olympics and get Japan and the rest of the world vaccinated, so the world can get back to some sense of normality.

@Anonymous

Apparently they can last up to a century after a major quake.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/rosetta-stones/the-shocking-truth-about-aftershocks/

The early morning press conference on NHK stated that this was in fact an aftershock from the 3・11 quake.

Based on the location of the epicenter of this quake and the one from 10 years ago, it is easy to see how one is correlated to the other.

Up here in Iwate, 20 km from the Pacific coast, I have to say that that was the longest and most powerful earthquake that I have experienced since 2011. Knocked some books off the shelves.

Scary stuff.

@Yubaru.

Great minds think alike.

As I was writing my response to the ludicrous claim by Penfold, you had posted your reply.

Moderna has publicly stated these mRNA class of (so called) vaccines "may permanently alter Human DNA".

No, they haven't.

These false claims have been debunked again and again by real scientists.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-genetic-idUSKBN29I30V

Those of us with common sense have read about the mRNA technology and how the past decade of research has led us to having real effective science backed vaccines in record time.

OK. You're a conspiracy theorist.

The early closure requests were because of the pandemic, period.

Good luck with that "natural attrition," while your more nimble rivals race ahead of you.

The companies that make up the airline industry are all in the same boat, or in this case the same plane.

The road to recovery will be long.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/27/economy/airlines-pandemic-recession-impact/index.html

Some television programs have also garnered criticism on social media for their use of clear mouth shields, which are said to have limited effectiveness in preventing the spread of infections.

Those clear mouth sheields are a joke. I guess that is why the 笑い芸能人 (Japanese comedians) among others wear them

I do occasionally watch the news and there are some good documentaries to be found.

Have a good Sunday everyone. I think I'll go read a good book.

Olympics?

Why are we still talking about something that will never happen.

Wuhan's wet markets throng with shoppers

Where it all began.

But don't say that to China. They will tell you that COVID was imported on frozen food products.