Jake comments

Really tired of people saying it's taking away their "rights". You have a freedom of choice to not get vaccinated. That doesn't excuse you from the consequences of your choices. Flying to other countries, that is a privilege, if you exercise your personal right to not get vaccinated, they can exercise their right to not allow you onto their planes. Governments shouldn't mandate every sector, but for things like military, police, and federal jobs, they have every right to require vaccinations. If your job requires you to get vaccinated and you don't, and you get fired. That isn't someone taking your rights.

Don't confuse freedom of choice from freedom from consequences.

I feel the need to correct people on here who do very little prior research and just put up an argument for the sake of being confrontational.

For those saying "quitting your job before you have the visa, that's dumb." You have 0 context for these decisions. When you have either a job, a school, or the government telling you every 1-2 months "we expect you to be able to enter soon!! Be ready to go as soon as the visa process starts." You don't have much choice. Most people are responsible, and need to give a job a pretty decent notice before leaving for professionalism. Which is ironic, since many people here seem to think they're more capable of making decisions on the spot. I hope none of you are suggesting just waiting and walking out on a job one day. If you are, you won't do well in Japan :). The same goes with renting in most places, they require prior notice. I have multiple emails from the last year stating they expect it to open in April, June, August, October, and November. I quit my job in April under that assumption, but got lucky that when it didn't work out they took me back with the understanding I might have to leave on short notice, but I also understand many people don't have that luxury.

Also, it is easy to judge other people as "impatient" when you completely lack any empathy. I haven't seen my girlfriend for over 2 years now, she moved to a new city with a job and an apartment so we could live together. And now she is stuck there alone because of the constantly changing information we receive. Many of you judge people because you can't imagine yourself in a similar situation, so you expect you'd somehow handle it better with 0 frame of reference. I also think people with a significant amount of time, money, relationships, jobs, and a plethora of other things on the line for 2 years have a bit of a right to get frustrated and impatient.

As for the people trying to claim this somehow helps stop the spread of covid, do a little research. When they opened the borders in November, exactly 1 person brought it that was ever reported on, and that person strictly adhered to the quarantine rules, so there was 0 community transmission. Long term visa holders are much less likely to spread covid than returning nationals, for the simple reason that if I show up and break quarantine, I can lose my visa and be deported. Regardless of the choices Japan makes, trying to judge people with the flimsy arguments I see here is just pathetic.

As someone who has been waiting for almost 2 years, if it wasn't for my girlfriend I would have already moved on and just gone somewhere else. But I am also aware that I'm not in a position to judge other peoples circumstances and choices made based on the best information available to them at the time.

Just wanted to rant because I'm tired of arrogant people that somehow think their 20/20 hindsight with 0 idea about an individuals circumstances qualifies them to say anything at all. I guarantee most of you would have broken down and would also be "impatient" in the same circumstances.

I find it interesting that people here are saying Fauci is over political, and he needs to be removed because of it, and all sorts of other nonsense. The man has worked with republican and democrat presidents for decades. Maybe, JUST MAYBE, he isn't suddenly the problem. And it is more about the environment surrounding him..

It is a fairly new thing that medical professionals and other experts are considered politically biased, mainly because our politicians have made it that way to rally their fan-base into an angry mob. Scary what mass groups of stupid can do when roused..

The problem is there Mike, regardless of if he was in danger is irrelevant. Self defense laws all across the country very specifically state self defense doesn't apply if you put yourself into the situation intentionally. This is very important to remember because it is supposed to stop things exactly like this. I'm honestly amazed that this is even a split decision, but... not really surprised sadly. Everything in America has become an "us vs them" political issue. For example, If I hear someone at a bar I like has been drinking to much and wrecking the place, if I go there with a weapon and confront him, that isn't self defense anymore. Because I chose to put myself into harms way. Whereas if the guy goes after the bartender, or attacks another customer, that is self defense. It is a very nuanced thing. This kid chose to go somewhere he had no business being, put himself directly in that situation, and killed 2 people. What the other people were doing is completely and utterly irrelevant. Honestly, I'm concerned if he gets off what that will do to our country. Not just from what will happen directly after, whether it's protests or riots. But moreso the precedent it would set. It is essentially excusing people from taking the law into their own hands, and becoming judge, jury, and executioner if they chose to put themselves into a dangerous position.

If the people he shot were rioting, burning buildings, so on, they 100% should be tried and punished. The root of the problem comes down to, do you believe they had the right to a trial like our country says, or do you believe some kid has the right the put himself in a position to make that choice himself?

@Richard Gallagher there are a couple huge things you're overlooking though. Just to list a few. Student/business visas are long term, have to jump through tons of hoops, and can be revoked and deported for breaking these rules. The chance of a long term visa holder bringing covid with them is much lower than domestic transmission. You also claim it's basically for selfish reasons that they want Japan to open its borders. But once again that is short sighted. Japan relies on foreign workers with business visas, and outside of just tourism, students bring a large work force and large sums of money for the economy. So it benefits Japan for very little risk.

I understand and fully support keeping tourists out until everything is fully under control. But that is completely different than people looking to move there for a non insignificant amount of time. Once again, as someone looking to move there to be with my girlfriend and work/live in Japan, I can be deported for not strictly adhering to the covid guidelines. While also bringing in business and skilled work that they desperately need. However, because of how they've handled this, myself and others are looking at just not going anymore. For example, I could just go to Korea instead, learn the language, and let my girlfriend come to Korea to visit, since her leaving and returning is fine, even though, once again, I can't even go to stay there.

@Burning Bush that's just not true though... This is from their leaders "The basis for an open society is vaccinations. 86 % of all invited (from 12 years and up) have received 1+ dose. 96 % of everyone above 50 are fully vaccinated." he tweeted Friday. "Throughout the pandemic [Denmark] has had higher acceptance than many comparable countries. No mandates needed." It's not about them accepting individual freedom, so much as their country being educated enough to make the right choices. That is the key difference between them and many other nations (especially the US).

I'm going to be the devils advocate a little bit here. Depending on what other information comes out, I'm going to withhold judgement. although the guy clearly made a mistake. If it was in a book cover where he couldn't see anything, I'm wondering if a girl had talked to him about being bullied and he was trying to find out. My girlfriend has told me about a girl that used to torment her anytime they were away from teachers from middle school through high-school. This included in the locker rooms.. not excusing his behavior, especially if people are right that this is the 2nd offense (I tend to take comment section notes with a grain of salt).

Before anyone comes after me, the was clearly the wrong way to do it no matter what the reasoning. But this story is also lacking a huge amount of information.