hooktrunk2 comments

I think 20 is too young to figure out which citizenship to retain. At least they should raise the age to 28 or something.

These "halfs" have parents of two different nationalities and sometimes the parents divorce or one parent passes away and the other moves back to their original country. When they get old, perhaps the kids might go back to that country and help out.

If this happened in reverse and they returned to Japan, the child would have to be sponsored if they no longer have Japanese citizenship. What if the parent were not mentally with it as in Alzheimers or in a coma or can't travel with the child to immigration it would make this difficult. Sure they could enter on a tourist visa, but if they were here long term, they would need to work.

We all know how immigration can be a pain. There are a multitude of situations where dual citizenships are almost a must. Having current roots set in 2 countries is difficult.

I've heard that there is no AC in Japanese Prisons. Kind of ironic.

Checking traps at night,...

@piskian

Unless I read the article wrong, it doesn't say that he was checking the traps at night, just that his friend called the police at night. Perhaps he was gone all day and when he didn't return in the evening, his friend called the police.

I climbed Fujisan twice. The first time there were practically no tourists but still plenty of people. Our hut was packed. It was 2011 after the Fukushima reactor drove everyone away. I took a trash bag with me, but didn't see a single scrap of trash. Not sure what that says.

I also saw plenty of people lightly dressed for the climb, but most had the right gear.

To avoid crowds, I recommend going in mid July, but I would dress warmer than you would for going skiing in the winter lower down. Freaking cold at the top! Especially if you go on July 1, like I did.

Not so bad when I climbed in August and was actually in short sleeves for an hour at the top.

Is it disposable? Not sure I'd get it then. Also, those white plastic ice rings the article mentions last about 5 minutes in the heat.

I usually roll a couple of those tiny gel ice packs that cake shops give you in a tenugui and tie it around my neck. It's enough to keep me from sweating on my way to the station.

It is confusing what is going on.

However, I found this link helpful. Seems like it is possible to remove large doses of tritium from water, but not the low levels remaining in the filtered water, and it seems like it will be at naturally occurring levels. One hopes at least:

https://www.iaea.org/topics/response/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-accident/fukushima-daiichi-alps-treated-water-discharge/faq#:~:text=When%20water%20comes%20into%20contact,the%20radioactivity%20before%20being%20stored.

Must be a slow news day for this to be the Top Story. An event almost 40 years ago.

@Bill Lewis

Tacky comment Bill. You are safer flying today because people DON'T forget this accident. RIP.

I could understand if Elon did something like Twitter X and Tessla X to match his Space X, but changing a successful brand image to just X doesn't make sense. I don't think Twitter's problems had anything to do with its name and logo. Love the bird and name as a brand.

As far as intellectual property rights go, this case will be interesting to follow.

Such sad news. A lot of assuming in the comments that the girls couldn't swim. There could have been a hidden drop off which causes one to suddenly sink and inhale water, who knows. I was a strong swimmer in High School, but when friend and I swam across a river one summer, I just remember that it was the scariest thing I have ever done. Rivers are strong, even peaceful looking ones.

What happens if a woman needs medical treatment? Can a male doctor treat her? What about nurses?

I really enjoyed the 7-11 “carrot cake” and think it’s carrot cake unlike someone above. It is definitely worth seconds and thirds.

I have found it in Adachi-Lu, Tokyo, but in Koto-ku I couldn’t.

Don't stay in the huts; they are nasty

@mountaingrill

The hut I stayed in wasn’t nasty at all. Super clean in fact. I’ve used the facilities on the way up at other huts and they were clean as well. I stopped in at another hut for lunch and it had a full stainless steel kitchen. Super clean. Impressive actually.

As for your advice, while I have “bullet climbed” before, I think they are dissuading people so this.

Sunrise at the top is magical. Done it twice.

Why arrested? Surely this is a civil offence.

@桜川雪

I would say it's conspiracy.

If it was just a couple times, sure, perhaps civil, but more than 800 times is a plan to avoid the fees. It's not so much the lost money, it's the scheming that is illegal.

I’m guessing the 3 years was so that enough ¥ theft racked up to make the charges worth it. If they caught them after 5 or even 10 times it would amount to only a slap on the wrist.

I climbed Mt. Fuji twice. I took a plastic bag with me to pick up some trash along the way, but didn't find a single piece. However, I first went in August of 2011 when the Fukushima nuclear plant drove many tourists away and the second time was on the first day of climbing season on July 1, so perhaps my experiences were not a true measure of the regular conditions.

I stayed in a hut with a group the first time and the second time climbed up and down in half the time with one other friend. Both times I passed a few people wearing basketball shorts and space blankets, tight stylish jackets and penny loafers, but most people were dressed right.

In August, for about an hour at the top, it was warm enough for short sleeve shirts, but the weather changed quickly. In July it was freaking cold the whole time, even with mountaineering coats.

They are so smart and cute. And vegetarian

@Rodney

Perhaps I misunderstood your comment, but it is my understanding that all bears are omnivores which means they eat both meat and plants.

After years without human habitation…

@sakurasuki

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe Koriyama was a restricted zone. It’s a good 70km from the nuclear plant.

I loved Naraijuku. Someday I'm going to cycle the Nakasendo Post road.

To those who think I shouldn't post my opinion that would be censorship.

We didn't say you shouldn't post your opinion. Ironically, YOU are asking JT to self censor themselves. Back on topic. RIP to the victims of this tragic accident.

@wallace. No one is forcing you to read the article.

I believe we have reached enough time that no more media articles are required.

@Wallace Pretty callous comment imo. I bet there are plenty of newcomers who didn’t know about this the tragedy. I remember it well, but didn’t know the surprising legal results mentioned in the article.

I wonder how many ATS devices JR has voluntarily installed.

RIP to the victims.

I'd MUCH much rather have a couple weeks of noisy campaign cars and flyers being distributed(even in the wrong places and wrong times) than months of political adds on TV and seeing candidates faces a year ahead campaigning in the news.

What did the guy use for ID all those years? Many of us in this forum can use our Alien cards, but I still use my driver's license sometimes for that.

As for the test, I was surprised how easy it was, probably because I had a license already from the US. Just 10 questions. I sure sweated the driving part, though, but when I finished it seemed even easier than the written part. Still, two out of the 3 of us in the car failed the test.

I didn't know we could walk the course as Clay mentioned. Seems like a good idea. I remember standing at the waiting room window watching the course and trying to memorize it as others were driving.

Taro Kono, ...raised the issue of the strict rules on a Twitter post.

But the article doesn't say what he said???

Gross. How sickening. I hope this isn't the tip of the iceberg. Makes me not ever want to visit an onsen again. This news is like the licking sushi story. Ugh.

Why couldn’t he have just worn a coat ?

If the junior high school uniforms in Hiroshima are anything like they are in Tokyo, they have no winter coat as part of their designated uniforms. My son wears a flimsy suit jacket over a white shirt and thin sweater. He can also wear gloves and neck warmer. Not sure about a hat.

That being said, he can wear his thicker warmer track and field jacket over his sweatsuit(jersey) on PE days, but there is nothing for wearing over his suit on those days.

There is no country with seismic standards to withstand a 7.6 mag quake.

This is not true. Most buildings will sustain damage at that scale, but earthquake standards are meant to prevent catastrophic building failure, not damage. Frank Lloyd's Imperial Hotel famously survived the 1923 M7.9 earthquake. It was damaged, but lasted several more decades. There were other steel and concrete buildings that fared even better than Lloyd's building during that quake.

The problem in many countries is corruption leading to cost cutting and skimping on metal reinforcing and using a less than adequate concrete mixture.

Why am I not surprised to see Adachi Ward mentioned. Hope it's not any of my neighbors.

Kanto Koshin is kind of a big area. I’m not seeing that much snow in Tokyo’s forecast anywhere. Knock on wood.

Sad to hear.

All three deaths this year were in warm-weather U.S. states

I wonder if it is mainly in humid climates this has happened? When I moved here from a dry climate, I experienced the failure of several synthetic products I owned.

Among them, the cushions of my boots turned to mushy powder, the seam seal on my relatively new tent flaked off and recently some synthetic-rubber grommets I put between some metal parts on my bicycle were nothing more than goo after just one summer and caused the paint to flake off where they were attached.