ikkoikki comments

Fifteen years of following Hanshin in the NPB and Seattle in the MLB; I'm seriously wondering if can one be more of a jinx to a team?

I live in South Korea and nationalism here is far beyond anything I experienced while living in Japan, and makes it one of the worst aspects of living and working here. Ignoring the fact that I despise soccer despite coming from the UK, I can't count up how many thought it was important to tell me SK beat GB in the soccer. Thankfully all conversations were brought to a sudden halt when i (innocently?) asked about women's badminton. And surprisingly little coverage here of the bronze medal loss to Japan in the women's volleyball.

"85.3% of the 1,502 people interviewed " in China, that would make the poll pathetically small by any standards.

Rats leaving a sinking ship.

Free condoms? The rates payers of London and the people attending are paying top-dollar to fund this festival of commercialism, oh, yes, and sport, and a included are 100,000 jonnies? Maybe I'm wrong and they are sponsored by Nike; 'Just Do It!'

Well, unlike so many prime ministers she was chosen by the public.

OK, it's a gimmick, that's the World we live in. And if you don't like Japanese beer, don't drink it and please stop complaining.

Hashimoto is the result of decades of career politicians and bureaucrats, managing rather than leading the nation-state; bribing a largely unquestioning population and sycophantic media with a safe state and constant growth, in return for not rocking the boat. Problem is that Hashimoto may well rock the boat, and then simply scuttle it. Change for the better is good; a return to populist rightwing nutjobs isn't.

In an ideal world, we could all rely on 'alternative' forms of energy. Unfortunately, until that time Japan, well most countries, are not ready yet. I look forward to a day without the threat of nuclear meltdowns but with all the reactors offline Japan risks everything from sweltering again (at best) to blackouts and therefore major economic, infrastructure and health problems.