ghiblian comments

While we would like to believe in equality, its not much of a prize. The empress and her potential spouse will be subjected to the intense scrutiny for perfection from the Imperial Household, the Japanese press and the public. It is literally a sanctioned hazing process. Just look at what Princess Mako and her fiance have had to endure and she's LEAVING the Imperial Household. Of course, she is not unique in experiencing this. Empress Michiko and the current Masako have both faced a critical press and an uncaring Imperial Household that exacerbated their problems. Yes, the British monarchy and tabloids gave Princess Diana similar treatment and they seem to be giving Princess Markle a hard time.

Wow! A lot of huffing and puffing over two pieces of paper. Yes, as a dual national child born in Japan, you can hang onto both passports at the age 22 and you will technically keep your dual nationality. HOWEVER, in practical terms good luck working that to your advantage because the "INTENT" of the Japanese rules are as clear as the government fingerprinting tourists (its out of love).

The nationality of your RESIDENCE will always take precedence so there really aren't that many practical advantages especially if you get into legal trouble. The US State department spells it out: "Dual nationality may hamper efforts of the U.S. Government to provide consular protection to them when they are abroad, especially when they are in the country of their second nationality." Of course, that applies to every other country.

If you are a dual national Japanese / American and are kidnapped by the Taliban, good luck trying to argue both nations should pay the ransom or attempt a rescue. Japan can easily decline because they weren't informed of the kidnapped victim's US citizenship. Arbitrary? As someone argued before the British government voided a British ISIS bride's citizenship since she had another nationality to fall back on...and they simply didn't want her back. More common are incidences where Japanese mothers have faced divorce in another country so they flee back to Japan with their dual national kids. The French husband can argue his children are French nationals and that a French court ruled the wife has lost custody in absentia...but that won't cut any mustard in Japan. He will have to wait until they are adults to visit them.

"Canada is a lot stricter that the US when it comes to legal immigration.."

Exactly. Which Western nation (only fair since the US is always judged compared to Scandinavian nations) has more liberal immigration than the US? Yet, even if the US seeks an immigration system similar to Canada the comparison to Nazis seems to arise with critics. Europe, Australia or Japan are arguably as racist as the US or more so. After the 2015 migration of refugees from the Middle East, Europe shut down illegal migration with deals with Turkey and Libya. The EU now lets ITALY do their "dirty work" so they can pretend to keep their "open borders" values intact.

*And across the Sea of Japan, Japanese people continue to eagerly consume Korean foods and buy Korean products.*

Yes, the boycott only applies in South Korea. In the US, a lot of Japanese restaurants are run by Korean Americans. I don't see them abandoning their businesses since sushi places seem to be more profitable than Korean barbecue restaurants. As, for Korean American barbecue...they never stopped serving US beef even when there were large protests in Seoul to boycott US "mad cow" beef. I was told by Korean Americans, that only mattered in South Korea and it had more to do with anti-American sentiment....

I wonder if South Korea will show up for next year's Tokyo Olympics. If they do it certainly will put a lot more pressure on Japanese athletes when they compete against South Korea on their home turf.

“car-sex adultery on the street”

"crush the car-sex-adultery-on-the-street-concealing NHK.”

"Protect the Nation from NHK Party"

I mean this is a comedy movie writing itself....but probably not on NHK.

Unfortunately, Brazil under President Bolsonaro is heading in the opposite direction with plans to expand its exploitation of the Amazon basin (dams, ranches, mining, etc). His reply: “The U.S. and the European Union say that the Amazon should be protected. But they destroyed all of their forests.” True. The only solution would be giving Brazil financial incentives to preserving them for our survival. Think of it as a life insurance payment. We already pay oil rich countries that we dislike to continue our addiction to convenient energy until / if we make the switch to more carbon free energy.

The price of ‘progress’ in the Amazon

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/06/28/how-building-boom-brazilian-amazon-could-accelerate-its-deforestation/?utm_term=.26505041ad05

"The ban on uploading video content is not limited to images of competition. Even video of the crowd or of one's own family may not be uploaded to social media."

Now these are the Tokyo Olympics? They sound more like the Pyongyang Olympics broadcasting from North Korea.

Whale meat tastes ok, but I prefer Panda bear...much more tastier and healthier for you too.

So was John Gotti.....

Asexual

They can reproduce through binary fission (split it two) like amoebas. Cool!

Well its certainly not surprising after Nissan (2006), Honda (2016), Toyota (2014) and Kubota (2015) headquarters departed from just the Torrance area of Los Angeles.

As others have noted the unfriendly business environment in California (among the worst) is mostly due to a Democratic majority addicted to giving away too much free stuff and over regulating businesses. Thus, high taxes on the middle class, the wealthy and businesses. Sacramento politicians just shrug when companies like Toyota say they are leaving. See you and take your high paying jobs with you!

Well, one lasting legacy that Japanese and Japanese Americans have left is a thriving Japanese food culture in Los Angeles and elsewhere. Even Japanese ramen chains are at war here with mostly Asian (Chinese and Korean) American customers.

Abe better get used to hearing and saying NO. No to pressure on North Korea, No to compensation claims to South Korea. No to trade deal with US-China. No to the Kuril islands so No to a peace treaty.

Maybe yes to VIP goody bags with Olympic tickets...

*Yes please go already! Did enough damage to Japan for the last 75 years! **Your holding Japan back economically since the 80s.....birth rates started to suffer. You can thank America for that...*

Wow, you forgot to blame the US for earthquakes and tsunamis. Ah, you mean the 1980s when Japan set it sights on the US auto market and allowed to gain a 40 percent share of it. Also the horrible nation which has let Japan run a trade deficit with it ($67 billion last years) since the 1970s. Economic success and better education leads to lower birth rates so maybe the US did have a part in that...

I hear its beautiful this time of year in WAZIRISTAN so I want to check it out! I'm bringing my girlfriend who wants to interview the local tribemen for an articles she's writing. Be back next week.