harajuku_press comments

I think the term is lame. When asked in Japan if my kids are "half", I say, "Yes, they are half human and half Japanese." That usually shuts them down ... hehehe. I tell my kids they are 100% of both cultures. It is a pointless battle, though, even my kids use the term "half" ... Such is life.

Too popular too fast. Glad I got to enjoy a lot of it, particularly the distillery-only releases, back in the day. Great stuff.

All that is unfolding is necessitated by China's failure to take responsibility for North Korea. China essentially fostered the creation of North Korea and has kept it alive to date. If China wanted a say in how the matter is resolved, it had ample opportunity but instead chose to use North Korea as a destabilizing distraction. China, inveterately bolstering and using North Korea for its own purposes, no longer deserves to be in the loop.

And so passes another great who contributed to Japan's golden age of cinema. He may not have been the best, but he was fun. Nikutai no Mon has its moments. Will any rise from the detritus that Japanese cinema has become and put the genius, or at least the cool back in Japanese movies? I dont know, but i have my doubts.

I wanted to vote for Dracula, but the poll was for "fictional" characters...

Great potential, hope the idea is developed to huge effect.

Why isn't the Sea Shepherd's armada there to help... Not enough notoriety and faux-documentary drama money contracts in helping whales if the Japanese are not involved? No one to denigrate or throw rotten butter at on prime time? A sad thing to see these whales meeting this fate.

If it turns out she did it, the menace must be dealt with. A demented killer is more dangerous than your run-of-the-mill variety. No remorse, no rationale, a clean, murderous slate. Of course, tough to get a conviction without a confession 'round these parts, and non compos mentis rules that out. Still, if she did do it, a quick dismissal or suspended sentence sounds like the order of the day.

Mostly.

The ForEx market is yet another scam for stock-market fast money. The banks of the USA, Japan, UK, Scotland, the "Swiss Mafia" (gov.), and China (fake gov. and economic numbers) play this game round the clock with many others. Trump's a moron if he doesn't know this (or otherwise), but when did anything he say make sense? Amateur hour at the White House continues...

Wow, it's only January and I may have seen the stupidest thing all year.

Many Chinese tourists come to Japan because, unlike China, Japan, with all its problems, is a democracy with a reputation for creativity and quality that China lacks. From the food to the temples, Japan has more reliable quality and continuity than China. The Chinese will keep coming...

Alas, what a pity. She would have been better off sharing her troubles and a bottle of sake with a carp. Not an option now. She is so totally gonna' get a stern talking to, maybe even (gasp!) ... A suspended sentence.

The silly thing is that if the fish was eaten afterwords, it probably would not cause much of a stir, but letting it live is somehow a tragedy for some. Sounds tasty, actually.

November, that is.

I like how it took four months for the police to find the time to wander over to his residence and serve him.

Yep. The Nationalists blew it. They knew they would never get the mainland back so they sold Taiwan out decided to make money.

Taiwan should have declared independence in the 1980s while China was still a bass-ackward, economic basket case. Instead, many in Taiwan chose, along with the rest of the democratic world, to invest heavily and reap quick benefits from China while empowering the CCP. Now the situation has gone from slightly to completely FUBAR. Hard to recognize a country that won't even decisively declare independence. The CCP have gone from occupying TIbet and keeping Taiwan under its thumb to creating islands in an attempt to substantiate laughable (and disturbing) claims.

MANPAD with wings would be way more convenient.

And after the sexing of the women by the Christmas boyfriends, the boyfriends, having served their purpose, can be nailed to pieces of wood and set afire in the time-honored Christian tradition as three wise-men pelt them with frankincense, myrrh, and fried chicken.

She attempted to murder her child. No stress, up to and including having a gun barrel pressed into the back of her skull, justifies attempting to take the child's life.

A shame. Another cool idea that would have allowed customization... Into the hopper.

Its the least worst... but without a constitution to prevent the tyranny of the majority and a relatively independant judiciary to enforce the constitution, democracy becomes mob rule.

The Second Amendment is a limitation on government power. A government that engages in illegal renditions, illegal tapping, and secret courts needs its power limited. A government that arrests people for burning a flag needs its power limited. Scrapping the Second Amendment because it is perceived as anachronistic or inconvenient further empowers the government. There is peril in living in a country where private gun ownership is legal and a crazy person might massacre the innocent. This peril can be avoided by moving to China, where a tyrannical government can make you disappear if you say or believe something inconvenient... But you won't have to worry about shootings... Just knifings. Admittedly, some weapons do seem excessive, hence degrees of regulation. But woe be the gun-control fanatics when the machines rise up ;)

Very cool. Exciting to read reporting without the baggage of religion. The mystery and complexity the universe, if it is a "uni"'verse, is always engaging. Alas, to live in a time of such potential but not actually be able to travel amongst the stars.

What a silly comparison. Obama's going to Hiroshima was keeping in line with recognizing the horrors of atomic (now nuclear) weapons, and the dire stakes involved in the unleashing of the atom's power and how we must work to avoid such a weapon's use. Pearl Harbor is of such a de minimis nature that it bears no comparison. Certainly, it was a heinous act that eventually brought about the defeat of Japan via-a-vis the USA's ire but historically and politically the two events are of entirely different calibers and significances. Japan engaging in an act of remembrance and recognition concerning Pearl Harbor would be a meritorious act, but it should not be linked to atomic-age events, for better or worse.

Taiwan should have declared independence in the '80s... And it will only ever become more difficult... Which is why it should declare it now anyways. Endless submission to the tyrannical hypocrisy of China's ruling class is a never-ending degeneration into a slavish existence at the hands of a gaggle of autocratic bullies. And those in the KMT that meekly offer their beggar's bowls up to the CCP are nothing better than parasitic pimps selling out their country for personal gain and a spot beneath the CCP's table where they can beg for scaps alongside all the other worthless traitors doing anything to appease the "government" of China for one more suck o' the teat. Next time I'll tell you how I really feel. ;)

Considering the dearth of facts, the outpouring of sympathy is odd. I have been yen/pennies short of a bus fare on many occasions and had to walk long distances as a result... And I have had to skip meals in times past to feed my children. 500 yen might not seem like a lot but how many times must a business owner have to let it slide (as those on this blog like to engage in hypotheticals and hyperbole) before he decides to put his family's bottom line before a thief's? I refuse to steal or to put my problems upon others. If someone should choose to do so out of what they feel is necessity, I might not judge them overly much depending on the facts (which are lacking) but regardless of their justifications they should bear responsibility for their actions and the consequent events.

Anyone who does not fear a nuclear conflict is a fool. That being said, there will be no nuclear war between North and South Korea because even if the North were to deploy a nuclear weapon against the South, the South, with USA assistance, would respond with conventional weapons to a much more destructive degree and avoid the stigma and aftermath of bearing responsibility for fall-out and radiation, etc.

Cool. More feel-good fodder. Not to detract from the weepy-ness of this silly bit of self-serving-back-patting but I would certainly appreciate a follow-up video concerning the fathers who have raised multiple children while working without the benefit of a cocoa-drinking mom...

A slightly antiquated look but if you can not see it when it counts... fair enough. We will see ;) ... At least Japan is not "borrowing" images of their fighter development from Top Gun.