jazz350 comments

More power to Ariana and wish her success in whatever endeavour she hope to embark in the future. On a separate issue, how can she be a "dual citizen" ? I thought that Japan does not allow this and one must renounce one's original citizenship before obtaining a Japanese passport.

Local towns and villages will strong oppose any project that is deemed to pollute their environment and cause serious long term damage. Japan is definitely on the wrong foot by providing loans to India for coal-fired power plants. Japan should help India in the renewable energy sector via solar and wind power rather than hark back to "dirty" coal . People in India strongly oppose nuclear plants in Jaitapur as well, and politicians have never learned any lessons.

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

Or do they need a Truth Commission as implemented by South Africa following their inhuman Apartheid policies. It is 2015 already.

Just boycott Quantas for their 'airway robbery", when passengers leave in droves they will mend their evil ways.

Cricky,

Check your spelling.....career not carrear!

I already have streaming music from hundreds of internet radio stations from across the world in my new Demio using the aha radio app, and the quality and variety is simply amazing. And I do agree that texting, browsing and emailing would be very dangerous

Hotel rates in Japan are a rip-off! And most of the rates are per person not the room, how ridiculous.

It would take a very "fat finger" to put through so many trades in several companies, fishy indeed!

CT scans have a very high level of radiation and should be avoided except for very serious conditions. The routine scans are a way to rake in the dough, need strict regulations to stop this disgusting practice.

JeffLee, you can watch the finals on WOWWOW, a cable channel at 6 AM on Tuesday, as the match starts at 5PM on Monday.

Many of the Indian restaurants are lousy in Japan. Several are owned by Nepalis who undergo a crash course is so-called Indian cooking at schools in Osaka which prepares them for "Indian" cuisine. The entire process is ludicrous. Indian cuisine is very regional and diverse. The North Indian Mughlai cuisine is mainly served in many of the Indian restaurants all over the world, but this is only the tip of the ice-berg. The majority of States in India have nothing in common with this cuisine.

Traveled a lot on AirAsia in March and April from Chubu to Malaysia, domestic flights in Malaysia and a side trip to Myanmar, everything worked well and I love AirAsia. The old terminal was congested and barebones, but they have moved to a swanky terminal with direct connections to Kuala Lumpur so that would be a major improvement. I wish they had more Fly -thru flights from Chubu to South East Asia .

This law has to be repealed, pronto.

Took flights from Chubu to Kuala Lumpur, within Malaysia to Langkawi and Penang and another return flight from KL to Myanmar, everything worked like a charm. Their rates were amazing, no other carrier can match AirAsia. Welcome to Japan and shake up the ageing behemoths like ANA and JAL who have the nerve to charge 50000 yen as 'fuel surcharge' for many international flights. I hope that AirAsia makes Nagoya airport as their hub. Now they have brand new terminal in Kuala lumpur which should ease trips into KL because of the direct high speed train.

Instead of subsidising the car manufacturers why doesn't the Government provide the benefits to residential homes to install fuel cells and this will reduce the costs of importing expensive oil and gas from other countries.

SOFTBANK is one of the companies that is seriously attempting to veer Japan away from its addiction to nuclear energy. Son has put his money into renewable energy not just paying lip service, so he has to be supported in his ventures.

Steal from the poor and give to the rich, Abenomics 101 !

Good news, solar is the way to go and grind the nuclear industry into the dust!

Unlocked phones will be a great help to travellers abroad as one can drop in a local sim card and use the phone for emergencies and more. Japanese carriers are draconian in locking up the phones tied to their respective networks. I do hope that the regulators will break open this superfluous barrier.

We have managed without nuclear power, so keep them offline, forever.

A month after the tsunami, I spent a night with the family of one of the girls who was washed away at the Okawa Elementary school. I believe the Principal was not present in the school and the teachers led the children along the river towards a bridge instead of seeking higher ground behind the school. Moreover the Principal showed no remorse and the parents of all the children were very angry with his attitude. A few students refused to follow the teachers and ran to higher ground and they survived the disaster. Emergency procedures were not followed by the school. The Prefectural authorities and the school system should share the blame for their ineptitude. It was one of the saddest days when I attended the funeral ceremony for the 73 children and their teachers.

We have 11 cats at home and three of them will be 14 years next month. The three are siblings and two of them are very active and go out everyday. But Suika's survival is quite a miracle as it had to fend for him/herself. So glad she/he was able to return home, the couple are blessed!

We have about 32 cm in Mie, just outside Ise shi. The countryside looks very beautiful, a winter wonderland as we rarely see snow in ouir area.

I have a Chinese friend who loves Japan and does not wish to visit China, even for a short holiday! She hates the Chinese Government because of their bad policies and corruption.

What fuel costs are these airlines paying? The fuel surcharges are paid by the passengers, around 50,000 yen for a flight to the USA. So JAL and ANA are lying through their teeth concerning their fuels costs leading to diminishing profits.

As a volunteer I have been teaching English for 8 years in elementary schools as well as kindergartens. The bottom line- the entire system needs a complete overhaul. If Japanese goals are proficiency, then the entire ecosystem has to be revamped from scratch. The status of English has to be elevated and made into the second language of Japan. It must be taught from kindergarten to the university, with no breaks in between. They have to hire professionals teachers from English-speaking countries and abandon the JET/ALT system as these candidates are not trained teachers. Students need to have programmes on TV, newspapers, books, the whole works to immerse themselves in the language. An environment has to be nurtured where the student have practical uses in their everyday life. For example the use of the internet where English dominates the bulk of the material and resources and currently out of reach of the majority of Japan's population.

And down the line Japan has to create special teacher-training schools in each prefecture, using foreign teachers, so that the Japanese teachers attain proficiency levels and confidence to teach the children in elementary/junior/ high schools as well as universities.

The children in the kindergartens where I teach are amazing and have no pronunciation problems as opposed to the children in the elementary schools, they know their alphabets. Whereas the children in 5th and 6th grade of the elementary schools are struggling with the alphabets. Obviously there is something radically wrong. The Ministry of Education and the Board of Education bear the brunt of the blame for the pathetic state of affairs. They have no vision to safeguard the future of Japan.

Its logical that the low end consumer market is doomed except for the newbies in large markets like India and China, as the ubiquitous mobile phone cameras will universally rule the roost.

Augusta Westland is deeply embroiled in a corruption scandal in a deal to supply helicopters in India. They have bribed many middlemen to get the contract and India has cancelled the entire order and suing Westland for breach of contract as well as a refund of over $370 million. The case is now in Italian courts. The Japanese must surely know about the devious track record of this company.

There is no accountability in India, the bulk of the funds will end up in Swiss banks and the people will suffer with poor infrastructure as they have suffered for 66 years. India is not really a poor country as there is tremendous wealth in private hands and they probably hold the largest amount of gold in the world. India also spends tons of money on arms, again the biggest buyer on the world stage while they have terrible schools, hospitals, roads, trains and poor sanitation facilities. India's politicians are a disgusting species and hope they are endangered soon.

Eight men and one woman have retired today in the second round at the Australian Open, this is unprecedented. Yet, the official Aussie medic claimed that the heat was not a major problem and I paraphrase his line of thinking -- "tennis is a sport where play is not continuous, as players get a break in between". What a dope, he is going to be reviled by players, coaches, public and the media at large. I wonder if he has ever held a racquet in his life!