hampton comments

You don't necessarily wait decades for the death penalty in Japan anymore. The process is not as slow as it used to be. Mamoru Takuma committed his crimes in Osaka on June 8, 2001. He was executed on September 14, 2004, as he waived all rights to appeal. If someone fights the death penalty, the process takes a long time, and the whole process can be more expensive than life imprisonment due to the legal costs involved. Agree with others that this man should get life without parole.

Education costs are another factor. Years of paying for juku, then paying for HS, then paying for college. This is crippling for families and is the main reason why me and my neighbors won't be having more children. Most families can only really afford the education costs for one kid these days, and it's not going to get any easier.

Yeah, and the US, Canadian and British militaries are planning huge joint exercises again. All countries do this with their allies. Unfortunately the British flagship carrier broke down before making it to the Atlantic, but we were willing. As a Brit, looking at the current state of our armed forces and economy, I'll hold off on any jibes at Russia and China.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-62712638

I would drink more if it was easier to go to bars that served decent beer. All too often the only choice for a beer drinker is between a few samey lagers. Many izakaya only stock one beer or one brand. You can have it nama or bottled. Sometimes you get a choice of 2 bottled beers, by the same company, that taste identical. Or you can go to the Hub, and you can find a Guinness and a Hub Ale, alongside the Kirin nama. In some cities the choices are better, but the prices are painful, especially for younger people. The Japanese government wants us all to spend money on a very highly taxed (Japanese) product in a heavily protected market. No surprise there.

My nearest hospital, which is the biggest in the city, takes the temperature of anyone trying to enter, and refuses entry to anyone with a fever of 37 degrees or higher. So, basically, sick people are not allowed in. This has been the policy since the initial Covid outbreak. Nearly all hospitals and clinics are essentially private, and they can decide who they treat. The health system makes no sense, but neither does the education system, the tax system or the pension system.

I don't support capital punishment and favor life in prison with no possibility of parole for murder. Too many mistakes are made as we all know, and posthumous pardons don't really cut it. Multiple U.S. states scrapped the death penalty because legal costs made its use too expensive. Life in prison is much cheaper, and is a more severe punishment in many ways. It also allows for release and compensation if an error is made.

https://ejusa.org/resource/wasteful-inefficient/

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/76th2011/ExhibitDocument/OpenExhibitDocument?exhibitId=17686&fileDownloadName=h041211ab501_pescetta.pdf

I have no sympathy for this guy of course. He is absolutely 100% guilty of a disgusting crime that ruined many lives. If the death penalty is to be used, it should be reserved for cases like this one, where there is absolutely no possibility at all of an error having been made.

John Coffey, a lot of people (like me) did not like Abe much, or appreciate his politics, but also do not understand why people bother to downvote e.g. a clear message of condolence, like the one from Jan at 07:24. I hope I don't know any of them. This was a disgusting, cowardly act, and an affront to democracy and free speech. Abe Shinzo's wife, family and friends will be hurting terribly, some every day for the rest of their lives. Why would anyone downvote a message of sympathy?

He has no access to his kids because the Japanese government has refused to modernize the law and allow joint custody, which is now an international obligation. Why do other countries allow Japan to get away with this?

Ministop's vanilla soft cream is seriously good stuff. I like the idea of the edible spoon too. Good on them.

I am hoping the new PM will hold a snap election to get a real mandate, but if not, there won't be an election until January 2025. We may have quite a wait before we get a chance to clear out the current Tory rabble. Happy to see the back of Boris, but slightly concerned about who might replace him.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-62064552

Boris was only in power because the unions that control the Labour Party threw up the Hamas-loving, extreme left-wing Jeremy Corbyn to take him on and the conservative party had no talent at all. Boris was less popular in 2019 than Theresa May in 2017, and she has been repeatedly voted the worst PM of the UK ever. Starmer seems normal for a Sir, but Frankie Boyle said he reminded him of someone playing the part of a Prime minister in an old Spice Girls video. Perhaps Sir will get jolly batey at least. Some of the conservative names out there are worrying. Patel, Truss, rees-Mogg, Shapps, Zahawi, Gove. The cupboard truly is bare, and thus we had Boris.

I hope this is generational, but David Brent is mainly right. Many women here expect men to pay for them to basically do nothing. My wife has never worked in more than 20 years, despite our frequent financial struggles, and she never would. Her only hobby is reading twitter, which she does all day every day, while I work myself into an early grave paying the ludicrous costs of Japanese private education. My teenage kids have seen this all their lives. One swears he will never marry, and the other will only marry a girl who wants a career. I have a long wait before I meet my grand children.

Oh dear. The news now simple announces that we have had 4 years of recovery due to Abe and his ridiculous Abenomics nonsense, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Ossan, I reckon if they vandalized something Japanese in China, they'd probably be okay.

Actually, it's even worse for parents that most here think. Where I live, you are viewed as a bad parent if you don't waste your money on juku. There is a horrific social pressure on parents to conform to the system, as to do otherwise is seen as disadvantaging your children. I have two kids here, one at JHS, the other at elementary school, and both are doing fine without any money at all having been spent on juku. We have to add in a little at home for what the state schools leave out, but it's not difficult to do. Juku should be abolished, and state schools should teach real curriculum, but there are too many vested interests, and the system is not going to change anytime soon. The exam system is designed to force everyone to go to juku unfortunately. The education system here is a big club that you are supposed to be a member of, and the more you pay, the better the returns are supposed to be.

Yubaru, have you never heard of sarcasm:

Since there's never been a war on the Korean peninsular, we have no way to know what could go wrong!

Wow....why do people make comments on a topic they know nothing about?

The next line even mentions the Korean war of 50-53. Perhaps you're not a native speaker. Never mind...

Wow, surgical strikes on North Korea, which (for those who haven't noticed) borders South Korea. Since there's never been a war on the Korean peninsular, we have no way to know what could go wrong! The US couldn't beat North Korea in 195--53. Then it was the Chinese army (still a peasant nation) that beat them. Then in the 60's they tried Vietnam. That didn't work out. On to Iraq and Afghanistan. Oops, two more massive failures, and a series of others. And none of them were even military powers. North Korea is a military power with a huge army just waiting to swarm all over the South Koreans. They have lots of rockets and bombs to destroy South Korea with. They can also hit any number of other countries, including the whole of Japan, and obviously Okinawa and the US troops there. I'd love to see NK dealt with, but regime change probably needs to come from within. Striking Pyongyang unilaterally could have consequences too terrible to contemplate. Mind you, if that's the idea, do it now. They're only going to get more powerful.

Well, bumping at check-in is appalling, and is morally reprehensible. Deciding to remove passengers after boarding is absolutely repellent. The flight was full, but it was not overbooked until the company decided to load four more people (its own employees) after boarding. That's insane, and should not be allowed. I object to bumping, but at least at check-in there may be other options. No airline should be able to evict passengers after boarding. That's unacceptable, should be illegal, and I hope this man sues them for a fortune and forces new laws into place that prevent this from ever happening again.

The age range of Toshiba's executives is 62-79. The investors quoted in the article are in their seventies. The company has a long history of fibbing about its figures, which is rife in Japan. Dishonesty is a standard practice. Their products were once superb, and are now basically trash. The traditional markets no longer exist for company's like Toshiba, and the old men at the top are fossils in an industry that needs to be dynamic and at the cutting edge. Sad in a way, but so many established firms are set up like this one, and will eventually run into the same difficulties.

As a foreigner here, I would laugh off her accusation, look shocked, tell her I am not attracted to Asian women, tell her I am happily married with a wife and kids and from a country where people simply don't grope. I would tell her she's made a mistake, tell her obviously it wasn't me etc. I would never insult her, accuse her of lying, or do anything that might get her back up even more. Just tell her she's made a huge mistake, and walk away, anata wa kowai-so kedo machigaimashita. If anyone else tries to touch you, tell them that touching you is dangerous because you will defend yourself from attack. Then walk. Once arrested, you are screwed. It doesn't matter you're a foreigner or not when it comes to groping. If the police show up, and you're still being accused, you will end up either signing away half your life savings, or spending three weeks in the slammer being forced to confess. Extract yourself from the situation immediately if you can, and keep walking.

Well, it's mainly because they didn't need to speak English to pass English tests. The system is based on passing old-fashioned tests, having rote-learned complex and often antiquated grammatical structures for those tests, instead of learning to "communicate" in simple, modern English. Many Northern Europeans appear fluent, but they often have a limited range, and don't even attempt passives or other complicated grammatical structures. They communicate using relatively simple language, which is easily enough for daily interaction. Non-Japanese arrivals here do the same thing with Japanese because we need to communicate, not read 19th century Japanese prose.

The Japanese system does not teach English as a language of international communication, neither does it test English in this way. Until this aspect of language teaching changes, the Japanese will remain weak when it comes to communicating in basic English. Banning TOEIC here would be a start, but other exams need to change in order for English to become more widely spoken.

Those involved in cover-ups also know that if they get restructured they will probably never get another job at anywhere near the same level of earnings, and have fake bonuses that depend on company profits. They are protecting their own jobs and incomes every bit as much as they are protecting their companies.

goldorak, wish that were true, but it isn't. Doesn't matter you're foreign or not either. Some of these women are in gangs, and they have their little friends to back up their accusations, all on the pay role of course. Falsely accused Japanese men can end up spending months in prison if they won't "confess". They lose their wives, jobs, homes, the lot. Some of them commit suicide due to such allegations. The man has no chance to win unfortunately. All men here are fully aware of what can happen if accused of groping, falsely or otherwise.

US cars are not monstrously too big in the UK, neither are they left-hand drive in the UK. The US makes very good cars now, that are perfect for the English countryside, and also absolutely suited to Japanese roads. If you've never seen them, you won't know them, but they are manufactured and sold in "right-hand drive UK", and they are every bit as good as the European and Japanese equivalents.

http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/Focus

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/best-small-cars.html

I'm a Brit, with no reason to support US cars, except that they are very good in the UK, and this "way too big for Japan" line is a decade out of date. The US manufacturers have fair access to the UK market, not the Japanese one. That's the difference. I've driven a Toyota Auris and a Ford Focus in the last few months in the UK, both right-hand drive, and I can't choose between them.

Yeah, but if you're from a smaller country like the UK, you get American cars designed for UK roads and conditions, and they compete and sell. This huge American gas-guzzling SUV imagery is a deliberate Japanese red herring. US cars that sell well in e.g. UK, like the new Ford Focus, should have similar market access in Japan. But they don't. The real reason why they don't is that Japanese consumers believe in the superiority of their own products unless something has brand/fashion value, plus collusion here stops free competition, which skews prices. So you see quite a few high-end Mercedes, but you never see Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat etc., and you seldom see Ford or GM.

Food is indeed the biggie. The Japanese are nowhere near self-sufficient, import taxes are sky high, and protectionism is rife. It is impossible to re-educate the Japanese into believing US cars are great, but the Japanese will eat more US and European food. The US should challenge this area more.

Good decision. Some murders here only happen because the perpetrator hopes for a death sentence. Life in prison is often cheaper than execution due to legal procedures and costs, and I agree with Disillusioned that life here without parole is a harsher sentence. Since this guy hoped for death, it's better to give him life, and this may even discourage others like him from committing similar crimes.

Fear not, at the last moment the glorious leader himself will urge smokers to refrain from the habit a bit for the two weeks or so of the Olympics. He might even vow to do this before urging.

I personally dislike Donald Trump, but he offered a free trade deal to the UK, and will do to others. It's the unfair trade that costs US jobs that he will stand up against. Why should the US allow other countries to ravage US markets when the US has only limited access to those same protectionist markets? Check how many non-Japanese car factories exist in Japan, and check the latest rice and dairy tariffs here. Check China's overall protectionist stance on trade and its deliberate, long-term, excessive currency manipulation. Any trade agreement involving Japan and China will be even more laughable than the final version of TPP was. Any trade deal led by China will end up suiting China. Other Asian countries should back away from this, Japan included.

Right, a long Excel sheet; how uniquely Japanese.

They could easily be tagged with a wrist band and located using GPS. No need for barcodes.