Howaitosan comments

Cyclists in Japan act very poorly; I have been 'clipped' by handlebars numerous time by cyclists coming up from behind with no warning and shooting past too close.

Furthermore far too few wear helmets, ride on the footpaths, ride two or three abreast in busy traffic - I've even seen riders peering into their mobile phones while steering with one hand completely ignoring the road and the people around them.

I'm constantly amazed that there are fewer serious accidents.

By the way, many cultures around the world recognise this. It's somehow predominantly western and west-influenced cultures that seem to make a big deal out of it. I wonder why.

Yotomaya

I suspect it's largely to do with the negative influence of the Monotheist religions, particularly Christianity.

Those theologies have never been comfortable with the Human body.

Hybrid classes are borderline impossible for teachers unless the classrooms have been set up specifically for them.

Coming from Australia - where remote learning has been a feature of Education for over 100 years - I have to say that the technological infrastructure in the Japanese universities I have taught in so far is woefully underwhelming.

Cheap laptops with substandard accessories and poor Internet connections make it nearly impossible to teach students online. Couple that with having to juggle some students being online while some are physically in the classroom and you have a recipe for a fractured lesson with little to no chance for the teacher to engage with the students in any meaningful way.

Either all in the room (ideally) or all online - NOT a combination of the two.

I tried that after I bought some by accident (I can't read Kanji, so I didn't know what was in the cheese).

I took one bite and threw the rest of the pack away!

It's awful!

My understanding is that the vast majority of this criticism of Hashimoto's score is coming out of China, either directly from that country's Social Media or via politically motivated proxies outside the country.

Emperor Xi's faithful servants desperately seeking their master's approval.

Ignore them - I do.

...the Japanese public is largely locked out and distrustful of the Games, fearing an influx of infections from the foreign visitors.

Given the paucity of testing being carried out here and the definition of "close contact" excluding anyone wearing a mask, even if they are in extended contact with an infected person, I would say the real danger is for overseas visitors to the games carrying the virus home with them after it's all over.

I have little doubt that the 'official' infection figures are a small fraction of the real number of infected people in Japan.

Aaawwww shucks!!

I'm all broken up about poor Mr Bach and his tossing and turning.

Of course, my husband and I have both been diagnosed with insomnia, depression, and anxiety attacks thanks to the impact of COVID on our lives - an impact which will be potentially worsened by the Olympic Games if it becomes the super-spreader event some are predicting.

But I can bet Mr Bach hasn't lost any sleep over that.

I don't have any days off.

So .... Covid-19 infection numbers are falling so much that the State of Emergency can be lifted .... but all Olympic-related public events have been cancelled as a "precaution" ....

Does anyone else see the disparity here?

Cases fall just in time for the opening of the Olympic Games .... what a coincidence!

(P.S. - if I sound cynical it's because I am).

I remember a similar thing happening in my hometown several decades ago.

A thriving market of tiny stalls and shops selling hand-made goods had sprung up in an old office building in the central city. It was officially 'rented' to a group of stall-holders by the City Council, but it was a "pepper-corn" rent - very cheap and only there to make their use of the building legal.

It was wild and eclectic, with all sorts of weird and wonderful corners, but it was incredibly popular with locals and tourists and that whole area of the city came alive with secondary shops and businesses benefitting from the market. It ran for just over a decade.

Then a new Council decided to tear the building down and construct a "proper" city center market - all pretty and squeaky clean. It caused a big outcry and a great many people argued against it, but the Council went ahead with it anyway.

That area of the city died completely and never recovered; eventually the Council was forced to close the market and the land just became an open park which is hardly ever used.

Taito will probably go the same way if they kick those people out.

As a foreign national currently living in Japan, it always surprises me that the country can be so advanced in some areas and yet so far behind the rest of the developed world in others. When it comes to issues of Social Justice, it seems to be thoroughly stuck in the past.

This archaic attitude towards women is simply idiotic and I have no doubt whatsoever that it is holding the country back.

A similar attitude seems to surround listening to the ideas of the young and allowing them input into the running and development of the country.

The rusted-on dinosaurs in the LDP need to either wake up to the fact that we are now living in the 21st Century, or retire to their rural golf-clubs and leave the running of Japan to younger, more forward-looking men and women.

Personally, I have never been able to understand why so many people seem to be utterly terrified of the LGBTIQ+ Community.

Frankly, I hope I can never understand such unreasoning, irrational fear.

Boku Dayo

LGBTQ? What ever happened to the "I" and who knows what after the "Q".

Nothing happened to them; they're still here, just like they have been for all of Human history.

@tooheysnew said it below, but I too am AGAINST society pandering to minorities.

Well isn't it fortunate for you that you don't belong to one.

Wolfpack

However it just is not necessary for homosexuals, bisexuals, and cross dressers to have laws specifically for them.

So ... you think it's OK for Gay people to be fired from their jobs? Or evicted from their apartments? Or harassed in the street?

They don't need to be protected from discrimination?

Try changing the word "Gay" to the word "Asian" and see if you still feel the same way.

tooheysnew

I’m all for equal rights.

what I’m not for, is society pandering to these minority groups.

Sooo .... you're "all for equal rights" as long as it's only for the majority?

.... and the people you personally approve of?

Riiiiiight!!!

Meiyouwenti

One look at the photo and you can see why those sexual minority groups cannot expect much support from the general public.

Judging an entire group of people from one photograph is simplistic stereotyping.

Perhaps if news services were more interested in facts and less interested in sensationalism, people would understand that the vast majority of LGBTIQ+ people are just like everyone else.

By using a new weapon called vaccines and taking firm preventive measures, it is fully possible

A "new weapon called vaccines"????

Does Suga not realise that vaccines have been used since 1796?

More foot-dragging from narrow-minded Luddites who dream of forcing the world back into their tiny little mid-set; I've never understood what these people are so terrified of.

Well we have won tougher battles than this, and we also have the advantage of time. Those sad, scared old men will not be around forever - we will.

This is not something that government needs to get involved in.

Why not, Bertie?

Full cloud-cover here in Osaka :(.

Just FYI - THIS is what happens in Melbourne Australia when there are just 5 recorded cases in the city ...

Australia news LIVE: Restrictions on public gatherings, masks reintroduced in Greater Melbourne as Victoria records fifth COVID-19 case

The Victorian government is reintroducing restrictions in the wake of the recent outbreak in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

Acting Premier James Merlino says:

“Private gatherings in the home will be limited to five visitors per day, public gatherings will be limited to 30 people, and face masks will need to be worn indoors, unless an exemption applies and this mask requirement is for everyone,” he said.

In the central Osaka building I used to work in, there have been at least 8 recorded cases in the last few weeks.

It would really good if information was supplied in languages other than Japanese.

My local municipality offered free vaccinations, but by the time I was able to get the information translated all the places had been taken.

And there's not much help from any other source; I can't even get the Australian Consulate in Osaka to respond to my emails for information regarding these vaccination sites.

As if we needed any more evidence that some members of the LDP are dinosaurs who should have retired years ago ...

It's a statement of fact. He's not wrong even if you don't like it.

He's wrong, Tokyo Joe; that's a statement of fact, even if you don't like it.

Wishma used a wheelchair and that when they last met her on March 3 at the immigration center, there was foam around her mouth and her fingers were stiff. They said her eyes appeared hollow.

... and ...

the immigration authority suspected Wishma was feigning illness to gain provisional release

The Immigration official who made that assessment is, a the very least, guilty of causing death by neglect. They should be immediately fired from their position and brought before the courts to face charges.

I recently spoke to a man who told me he is sending his pre-school-age child to cram school so that they can get into a good kindergarten; his logic is that this will lead to a good elementary school, followed by good junior and senior high schools followed by a good university.

Both he and his wife are permanently exhausted as between working full-time, running the house, shepherding their child to and from both cram- and regular school and following up with homework - all of this with no available child-care - they get no personal time at all.

It's insane!! Having children is never an easy job, but it certainly should not be so completely debilitating.

Coe's only concern is with vaccinating the athletes who will compete at the games, which will presumably be done by their own Governments.

The people of Japan will simply have to put up with the consequences as far as he is concerned.

As for the vaccine "rollout" here ... my local municipality has started vaccinating seniors; I'm turning 65 in a couple of months, so I qualified for a spot. When I tried to book one, I just got a busy signal for days. By the time I finally got through, I was told there were no more bookings left. I later found out that they were given 2900 doses for a senior population here of 30,000!

That pretty much sums up the Government's vaccine rollout program.

I'm over 65 and was on track to receive a vaccination through my local council. When I called to make a reservation on the day the lines opened, I got a recorded message telling me to call back later.

I did - for four days - only to get the same message over and over.

Finally a friend went on to the council website and found that the municipality had only been given 3,000 doses for an elderly population in that area of nearly 30,000!!!

If that is how the Government is dealing with the vaccinations, most of us will be dead of natural causes long before the shots become available.

Pathetic.

Anyone who attacks another person because they look different is nothing more than an idiot whose parents never taught them how to behave.

Stupid children who need to grow up.