happyhere comments

Three leaders whose popularity rating hovers between 20 and 30%. By the end of 2024 they will be yesterday's men.

Such an honour to be summoned to the master's house.

@Taiwan

Your link is to a survey of just 23 cherry picked countries, most of which are in the current survey. The UN has 190+ member states.

What Pierre Trudeau called "wife swapping with a bachelor".

Well they surveyed 22 US military allies so the results are hardly surprising.

I would be more interested in what people think in the other 171 countries in the world, where the vast majority of people live.

China has refused to condemn the war in an effort to position itself as a neutral party

How on earth do the authors know why China chose this position? No evidence is given.

Again, reply back with the map of the Northern Territories

Diplomacy means not setting preconditions. Oh yes, the collective West doesn't do diplomacy any more does it.

And I recall Aso, among others, calling Kishida a peace -loving moderate.

Glad we didn't get a hawk. Lol.

OssanAmerica wrote:

*"Thailand was subordinate to China as a vassal or tributary state from the Sui dynasty until the Taiping Rebellion of the late Qing dynasty in the mid-19th century."*

Where did that quote come from?

Not what it says here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Thailand

Ditto for your other quotes.

All these SE Asian countries have agency and centuries of experience with China and Chinese people.

Right on. I hope she goes to listen not preach. Thailand, which has never been invaded or occupied by a foreign power, would be a good place to start.

Great to see all Asian nations coming together for what will surely be a bonding experience. Shattered Europe must be looking on with envy.

Go Japan!

China’s weaker than expected recovery has been weighing on Japanese exports, although hopes are growing the downturn may be bottoming out, at least for some industries.

So Japan's economic health depends on China's economy booming.

Sweet irony.

but there still need to be lots of restrictions regarding sensitive technology.

Huawei's latest phone showed the uselessness of this strategy.

Why do musicians have to be philosophers?

"Doo wah diddy, diddy dum diddy do"

Leaving Kono in the cabinet in charge of MyNumber is a brilliant cynical political move. A poisonned pill.

Recall Kono was the closest challenger in the last LDP leadership race.

As the MyNumber debacles continue (not all due to Kono) his fate will be sealed.

The reason for the "travel surplus" is that Japanese residents cannot afford to travel overseas due to the low yen and hence sky high airfares. For example, autumn trips to Canada cost double (in yen) what they cost before the pandemic.

At the envisioned gathering, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and his G7 counterparts are expected to reaffirm their commitment to upholding and strengthening the international order based on the rule of law

for the umpteenth time.

Mainly its to support Karuizawa's local tourist industry at government expense.

The sanctions against Russia worked so well they decided to have a go at China. Good luck with that.

Thanks for the correction Mr Kipling.

Rewarding Toyota for making the wrong call on EVs for the last decade.

And Japan will pay, not because they're frightened of China but because they're frightened of the US

Alfie nails it. As Kissinger said, to be a friend of America is fatal.

Don't see many 60 year old cars on the roads. A reactor is way more complex.

If nuclear power is such a good deal why don't we have new ones, like cars, taking the old wrecks off the road.

For some perspective on the life of SK women let's note their life expectancy is 86. 5 years, fully 6 years more than men at 80.5 years.

BTW, in the US, where the author lives, the numbers are 80.2 and 74.5. Perhaps the US could learn something from SK, and Japan, where the numbers are similar.

Nah, they know best.

So 10th, 14th, 20th and 21st for Japan's top 4.

How the mighty have fallen.

Imports jumped 35.0 percent to 117.68 trillion yen with crude oil, coal and liquefied natural gas among major contributors.

Sanctions on Russia by G7/EU backfiring badly.

According to Ursula it was Russia's economy that was supposed to be in "tatters".

the data at risk includes: the vehicle identification number, which is separate from the license plate; the location of the vehicle and at what time it was there; and video footage taken by the vehicle, known as the “drive recorder” in Japan.

Ok, so a hacker knows where the car is parked every night. What do they mean by "the owner is not identified"?

They know everywhere the car has been. That sought of information management should never be outsourced,. Toyota. Get with the 21st century!

...those aged 65 or above in Japan are projected to hit 33.67 million in 2070 after peaking at 39.53 million in 2043. In 2070, they will comprise 38.7 percent of the population, resulting in ballooning social security costs.

What nonsense. Currently 28.9% of the population are over 65. So during the next 47 years this will increase by (38.7-28.9)/47 = 0.2% per year, hardly a balloon.

If people work for 40yrs in their lifetime, then an extra 0.2% comes out to raising the retirement age by one month, per year. So raising it 4yrs to 69 by 2070 would be enough.

Pretty sure the retirement age will be 80 by then ....

@antiquesaving

How many tanks of gas do you or any of your suburban friends use per week? I bet it is less than one, maybe less than two per month. So no problem even for slow charging an EV from solar.

The grid will not collapse even if a million EVs are added per year. Do the maths. The majority of the cars on the road will be ICEs for at least 20yrs. Plenty of time for Japan to fix its balkanized grid.

It would take 40 large full side solar panels on a nice sunny day functioning at peak performance 8 hours to change the smaller Nissan leaf battery pack.

In reality it will take about 16 hours..

No problem at all. How many people in Japan fill their car up once a day from empty?

Most urban dwellers go two weeks between fill ups, if not a month. So just a few hours a day of sunlight keeps your EV "tank" full (ie. fully charge) all the time.

Furthermore, most cars are parked 90% or more of the time.

Sure long distance truckers and people living in the NWT need ICE/hybrid. But the vast majority of people and their cars are in cities.

@TokyoLiving

If I sail my boat into Japanese waters does it meant it becomes Japan's boat?