ichibanshibori comments

The problem is the US airlines. They abandoned anything resembling good service many years ago.

According to Reuters, the U.S. government currently pays around $30 per dose (approx. 4,400 JPY) to Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE for their vaccine. Why does the Japanese government pay nearly double?

If Mr. Ghosn was interrogated for an average of 4 hours a day for 70 days, as the prosecutors claim, that means he was still forced to undertake 280 hours of interrogation without a lawyer present.

The extensive interrogation and inhumane treatment of criminal suspects in Japan is clearly part a system designed to create confessions and not achieve justice for the accused.

These stamps, like many of the recent collectible stamps by Japan Post are being sold at well over their face value.

In the past, people actually used stamps to send letters to each other, and stamps like these were sold at face value.

Sadly, the stamps here which are marketed as "collectibles" and being sold at high prices will probably seldom be used for their intended purpose.

Crushed stone contaminated with cesium is most likely already being used for concrete in other areas of the country. We can expect more of these stories in the future, as contaminated material has already been spread all over Japan without any true understanding of the consequences.

This is not an "election", it's a farce. The current ruling junta in Myanmar seized power illegally on September 18, 1988 and rules the country with an iron fist. The people of Mynamar have no freedom nor choice in their future leaders. This "election", along with the current and future military leaders of Myanmar do not deserve to be recognized by the world as the legitimate government of the country.

It's interesting that Canon printers cost nearly three times the price domestically in Japan as for the same models in the US or other foreign markets. Unfortunately, it's difficult to use a printer from another market in Japan because the ink cartridges have different, incompatible chips.

For example, the Canon MP560 is currently US$79.00 (approximately 6,652 yen) on Amazon.com, while the same printer for the Japanese market is 21,980 yen on Amazon.co.jp.

This story is about rising temperatures in California and has absolutely nothing to do with US partisan politics. Also, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California is a Republican, not a Democrat. Please try to keep your comments on topic, and factually correct.

Despite the beautiful packaging design most Japanese products have, I don't buy Mt Rainier coffee because the package uses an excessive amount of plastic. The plastic cap on this product serves no practical purpose other than to make the package look similar to a Starbucks brand drink. If Morinaga Milk really wants to save the rainforest, they should seriously consider using eco-friendly packaging.

30 year old "kids" is just one of the many social problems that Japan needs to deal with in 2010.

American Airlines is the worst carrier in the history of American aviation. The further expansion of AA must be stopped, or they will destroy the Japanese aviation industry too.

American Airlines was rated the worst US airline in 2008 (http://bit.ly/pv0NL), and my bets are that AA hasn't made many improvements in 2009.

The business combination of AA's poor service and JAL's lack of ability to make a profit will be the final nail in the coffin for the Japanese aviation industry.

Passengers should (and will) choose airlines other than American Airlines and JAL should this merger actually happen.

Journalism must not be biased to any political party or belief, and until CNN and FOX (and the majority of the American news media) remove bias from their reporting they do not deserve to be called "media organizations."

I completely agree with David Axelrod's description of Fox news, and am proud that someone in the White House spoke on the record about the bile that is spewed by Fox television under the false name of "news".

Unfortunately, as Mr. Murdoch controls a large percentage of US and international media companies, I can only assume that this story will be spread with a Fox-like spin to it in order to fatten Murdoch's already too-fat bank accounts.

I wish that American Airlines could implement technology to keep their staff from stealing from customers checked luggage. Last time I had the unfortunate experience of flying with American Airlines I had many items stolen from my checked bags and their customer service refused to take any responsibility for my losses. I strongly recommend that passengers choose an airline other than American Airlines, despite the novelty of being able to check your email in-flight with this new overpriced service.

Last time I flew with American Airlines they had no recognition of the importance of their customers whatsoever, so I suppose this is a minor improvement!

I'd like to personally thank American Airlines for stealing my gifts and personal belongings from my checked luggage when I flew with them from Chicago to Narita, but unfortunately I'll have to tell it to this new speech recognition system instead!

American Airlines was rated the worst US airline in 2008 (http://tinyurl.com/cf9tkf). It does not surprise me that AA would sacrifice passenger safety in pursuit of profits. There is a big difference between a 'seat cushion' and a 'life raft', and no PR spin can alter that fact. I recommend all travelers avoid American Airlines whenever possible, and fly with carriers that care about their customers lives.

Blackwater should have lost their license to operate in Iraq last year after killing 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians on 6 September 2007. Good riddance!

People on earth make no secret of the fact that they disagree with the way that Japanese 'research' whale meat ends up on dinner tables and accuses Japan of insensitivity to world opinion.

This isn't a new product -- 'Chikara Mizu' was originally released by Kirin in 1994. This is just a new package, with DNA added.

The Imperial Household Agency has a yearly budget of 17,766,300,000 yen and 1,053 employees to make sure that Aiko's experience in kindergarten will be a good one.