Jamie in Japan comments

I find it interesting that people don't want to move into those emergency housing places just because they're "inconvenient." Isn't that better than living in a shelter or on the street? I'm really boggled. Aren't they free, too? I'd gladly take a free place of my own, no matter how inconvenient, especially if it was between that and a school gymnasium floor.

Do they cost money or something? Surely there's another reason.

Err, chou-cremes. Thank you iPad auto-correct... :/

I'm not a huge fan of ebi senbei, but my Japanese bf loves them. Dried squid on the other hand-- sign me up! Love it! (^-^)

I really wish that someone would come up with a Zero Coke/Pepsi that tastes exactly like the calorie-in version. I find the Zero verions to be bitter and kinda.. I don't know how to describe it.. dirty-tasting? Does anyone know what I mean?

Anyways, I'm in the camp of people who wish that some of the seasonal snacks would stay. Sakura Chou-crimes especially. Those were so delicious!

@BlueWitch : Two weeks ago today, the house next to me burned halfway down in a huge fire. I was woken up at 5:30 am by deafening sirens and peered out the window to see smoke billowing out of the second floor of the house no more than 10 meters from my window. There must have been at least 30 firemen in the parking lot and on the rickety old staircase. At first, they kept shouting "Is there anyone in there?!" I don't think there was an answer, but eventually they forced the door and then the interior door open, at which the house erupted in a huge fireball. It as then, right from the flames, that they brought out the occupant. Although he was obviously dead already, and there were huge flames coming out, they still went back in to search.

I just wanted to assure you, that in my own experience, firemen in Japan do go into burning (and obviously dangerous) houses in Japan. Those men were heroes. Without them, our apartment would have surely caught fire too, and with the absence of sirens, who knows what might have happened?

I feel really sorry for this man. To have someone that you are supposed to be able to trust turn on you. It's heartbreaking.

And ExportExpert-- I don't consider 68 to be old age at all! It's not much longer before I near that mark, and I don't feel like I've even begun to live!

HEADLINE NEWS

TEPCO considers dumping more tainted water into sea ( 48 ) Man arrested over hit-and-run that left victim's body in drainage ditch ( 8 ) AKB48 New Year greeting cards go on sale ( 29 ) EU summit could determine course of world economy: Azumi ( 7 )

That's some headline news there!

I think this seems like a great thing. I'd love to see living mammoths, and someday hopefully dinosaurs too! Just because they died out, doesn't mean that they actually deserved to.

Humans aren't the only species worth surviving, after all!

I also want to state that I got constant (nearly daily) emails from men asking for a date, until I erased my picture from my public profile. I still get them, though, based on the groups that I'm in. It's awful! Even when I made it a point to write that I was happily attached to someone, I still got them.

It's the same on Ameba, actually. Which is the reason that I mostly have left the site now. It's really frustrating, I'm not out asking for a date, and it's a big bother to have mails constantly coming in from crazy guys. (because seriously, what guy would expect a girl who doesn't know them to accept a blind date from a stranger?)

I hate how you can't see a single page on Mixi without having an account and logging into it (including news). That, I think, is mixi's greatest downfall, and why it will eventually go under. The ashi-ato thing is also discouraging. I don't want to let everyone know that I've looked at their profile! I feel like it makes me look like a stalker, when in reality I just only have a few friends on there that I actually care about, so I look on their page rather than sifting through tons of tsubuyaki that I don't care about. Well, I look when I think it's been "long enough."

One thing I do love about Mixi is their communities. The only English site that's similar is livejournal, that I know of. But it seems that lj was never really that popular. Too bad. To be honest, I think they should combine with Facebook.

I hope that others who are in dark situations, doing dangerous things, will be able to see her as an example and pull themselves out of it. She can help best by continuing to be a role model for them.

AKB doesn't have 48 members, so you might want to correct the article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKB48 (not that it really matters, but still)

The 48 in the name has another meaning. Supposedly it's from the kanji of the name of the creator, or something similar, but I don't know where to ind documentation of that.

Traditional Christmas meals are different all over the world. I guess this is just Japan's version.

I miss turkey and don't really care for fried chicken, and won't be buying anything from KFC on Christmas, but if that's what makes other people happy, then more power to them. As long as they're eating it with loved ones, then it doesn't really matter what they're eating, right? ^^

Global warming is really misnamed, isn't it?

Not looking forward to the cold winter. My house, also, doesn't have insulation. It may be time to move, if there is indeed any housing with insulation available that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

In private, affection is very important to me. I need it to survive. Just a little bit makes the whole day better.

I think that affection is shown in different ways for all people, but being affectionate with the people important to you is important, no matter how you express it. ^^

In public, I think hugs, kisses, and even the hands-in-back-pockets are cute. Making out or groping, not so much so. But if that's the only place someone can get it, I'm not going to deny them (^.~)

Please, pleeeeeeease let Japan follow in Britain's footsteps! It would be heaven to be able to walk into restaurants and cafes here without having to worry about the smoke or end up feeling sick.

I would love to see a ban on smoking in all apartments, too. Not only does smoke get into the walls, making the place smelly for people who move in next, it also creeps into the neighbor's apartment! I hate that my stupid college student neighbor smokes and it comes into my house even with the windows closed. I tried complaining, but there's nothing that I can do about it short of move. I was here for over a year before he moved in, and of course the cost of moving is just too prohibitive here! I hate having to suffer for someone else's drug addition. ToT

If it was an affair, well.. it takes two to tango. Both the wife and the boss would be to blame.

Unless of course it was the husband and his wife's boss that were having the affair! In that case, perhaps the boss was mad at his lover for refusing to leave his wife, and decided that suicide Romeo&Juliet-style was the only way out. What an interesting story that would be! Sad, of course, though.

This is so sad. I wonder if there's anything that I can do to help both men and women in DV situations. I'd never want anyone to have to suffer through that.

A little note on the "commercial" aspect. Well... spending money is how our economy works. Sure, it's bad to overspend, and it's also bad to be given everything without having to work for it. But I don't think most people are in that situation.

I think we're overlooking the most basic situation: it feels good to both give and receive. I think that's a good thing (^-^)

To me, Christmas has always meant staying up late for Santa, getting up early to open presents, and spending the day with family. To top it off, we watch Christmas movies, play games, visit, and have a big dinner at the end of the day. Some people also celebrate the religious aspect.

All in all, it seems like a fun, fairly wholesome holiday that spreads more cheer than grinchiness. I'm happy to see Christmas lights. It makes me happy to think of the fun times ahead. It's never too early for a litle cheering up!

Yes, it's very hard to lose and keep off weight in these days, with all of the temptations around. But its ALWAYS your fault, you always have a choice whether to eat the food or not. Whether to exercise or not. Hard yes, but also your own responsibility.

The law says that cyclists should use the road unless it's too dangerous. Therefore, if there is even one car nearby, they should always use the sidewalk, right? When I cycle to the store, it's insanely scary to have cars whiz by me at high speeds less than 15cm from my handlebars. The roads are just so small. I don't have a chance if I'm hit while on a bike!

On the other hand, riding on the sidewalk can be quite frustrating. As several people mentioned, pedestrians are often running out into the middle of the sidewalk without looking, or walking side by side and leaving no room to pass. I don't like using my bell, but what am I supposed to do when an otherwise empty sidewalk is impassible at one point just because three obaachans just HAVE to walk next to each other? If I don't have the right of way, then I'm supposed to patiently wait, right? That isn't fair at all.

Well, I've ridden a bike for years to get groceries and such and never once been in an accident or seen an accident. There were a few close calls, but avoided when I veered sharply out of the way of the idiot who didn't look before they sured into the way, etc.

I guess I'd just like to see cyclists get some priority as well. It isn't them causing the accidents most of the time, I think.

Learning a second language is never a waste of time. The only reason that 90% of the people in Japan "don't need English" is because they will never, ever set foot abroad in an english-speaking country, meet a person who only speaks english, or want to see a movie that doesn't have subtitles. Right?

My point is, bettering yourself is never a waste of time, and if you find the time to study something, you will find a place to use it, no matter how small. To say that it's a waste for someone to study a foreign language (not just english) is really devaluing that person. I'd like to think that people, no matter how dull you may think they are or how "boring" they might seem, are all full of limitless potential. Everybody, everywhere.

"but also violence in dating relationships, against siblings”

I really, really hope that that was just a typo or misquote. I hope there are not a lot of kids out there dating their siblings. :(

I also found the statistics really disturbing in general, whether the kids had consumed soda or not. 35% of them had been violent towards peers? That is really, really scary. I've never, ever been violent towards someone, and can only think of two times in my life when someone was violent towards me, and in both cases they were as an adult (in the train, and ironically both in 2011). That sounds like a really, really scary school/schools.

Drugs make your brain do wacky things. How revolutionary. Us non-drug users have known that for a long time. It's about time you caught up!

Well, at the very least at least she wasn't hit by another truck afterwards, and then left helpless in the street while 19 people walked by, ignoring her like happened recently in a neighboring country.. :/

I feel bad for the driver, to be honest. Try as hard as he might, careful as he might be, the unexpected happens. It's not his fault that the mother/father/caregiver let their 1 year old crawl under the bus instead of watch them. I'm pretty sure that he would never want to hurt a child, and now he is paying for something that most likely wasn't even his fault. On top of that, he has to live with the guilt. I feel really sorry for him.

As an artist myself, I really like this idea (have thought about doing something similar). I'll pick up a copy next time I get out to Kinokuniya!

Also, I don't know if this is what most of the OWS supporters are there for, since I see varying "demands," but tax reform-- I don't support increased taxes for the rich, or for anyone. In fact, taxes should be decreased. What should happen instead is reform of the money spent. If the budget is better taken care of,then there would be no need for extra money, and plenty of money to spend on things like education and health care and public transportation, etc.

It really seems to me like people are just "supporting" because it's the trendy thing to do. Nothing wrong with that-- that's how Britney made her money after all- but it doesn't really make the whole thing appealing to those that are uncertain or on the fence.

According to them, I am one of the 99%, because I'm not a billionaire. Fair enough. But I want to be one of the 1% one day, and I'd rather spend my time trying to get there, instead of sitting in the park. Sorry!

That's so sad. I'd love to have a baby with my partner, but he has yet to come around to my way of thinking. If only those of us that want children could just arbitrarily have them instead.

I don't know what the mother's circumstances are, but I think this kind of news just illustrates the need for education and social programs on these issues.

Link, please?