johnmasterof comments

Any link to this particular video?

Might be a strange question, but why not just use one of the car batteries from the parking lot? Surely someone would be willing to hitch a ride with a co-worker in order to get a battery.

Mr Sushi, I believe that Japan has restarted or has increased the output of some coal or gas-burning electric plants. If I remember correctly, there is more than enough energy without the nuclear power plants from other sources. Only problem is that these sources tend to leave a huge footprint in the economy as a by-product of normal use.

And if you look at cars in general, in the 1999-2000 area of time, many cars had a 燃費 (gas consumption) of 11 - 17 kilometers per liter. Recent cars are averaging 19 kl/l and up, with many at 20+. With the average used car having a life of 5-10 years and / or 60,000kilometers, it is not surprising that as efficiency of the combustion engine rises, fuel consumption would decrease. I cannot give any one source to my data but I can say that I am in the market for a car and have been researching vehicles to buy.

I feel the biggest take-away from this article is that the system in Japan is outdated. The general fear that foreign imports are inferior needs to be altered. I am all for Japanese products being more expensive and high-quality but I am also all for giving the average person a choice. If, in a dire time of need, Japan (through bureaucratic "red-tape") is able to deny foreign companies from helping, how can we expect Japan to even consider other issues (such as the TPP).

I wonder if this information is out in Japanese someplace? If anyone knows, could you put up a link related to this issue, please?

@keika1628 I would love it if there was an article to read on this issue as opposed to word-of-mouth information spread over pints of delicious ale.

No idea how I misspelled it but I meant to type "thoroughly " not thrououghly...

@Disillusioned The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch is a fake weapon based off of The Sovereigns Orb (UK). In the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" it was used against a killer rabbit.

@JT, I thrououghly enjoy these sort of articles with just a hint of pop culture thrown in there. A fun way to start the morning, thank you.

In regards to the island proper, I would love to visit and probably will sometime in the near future. I am a sucker for rabbits and their cute-ness.

Well here I go, off to work... Crap. This whole thing is interesting to say the least. However I do not know of any other country better prepared for something like this than Japan.

No, since he seems to mention that the media coverage was what really enticed him.

Talked with a few Japanese people who read Spa! today. One said that their significant other rages when the magazine is found in the house due to its "exaggerated" and "biased" writing. Personally, I am glad to read what others are reading. Mostly for the fact that I do not wish to buy these magazines, but I find that it is good to get the best of both worlds in regards to information. This article is a pretty good read, although slightly strange in its point (unemployed people EVERYWHERE, except this guy and that one). I personally feel that this is a crack at the whole, "Japan is the best country ever!" mentality of quite a few people here. Cheers, JT, for keeping me informed as the what is being said in Japan from Japanese sources.

Herbivore men are named for their lack of interest in sex and their preference for quieter, less competitive lives. I do not think participating in a protest, group activity that is loud or complicated activities such as politics would interest many of these "herbivore men."

I do think that these people can join, however I doubt they would actually want to, much less actually do anything. On a different note, did anyone actually see these protests? I am interested in some more information about these "Ganbare Nippon" people and what exactly they are protesting. Research time.

Younger people, WOMEN (herbivore men do not count) and MINORITIES that have Japanese citizenship would be nice. But you know what, it will never happen because the old grumpy men do not welcome in those groups.

Yes, I agree 100%! Why do these groups at least band together or something? Start some kind of movement at least. Show Japan that the Japanese are not just "grumpy old men" and are diverse in both age and heritage. I wonder if, to some degree, the whole idea of seniority in Japan carries on so that people feel that they should not upset these "grumpy old men." One reason I like the DPJ is that I could become a member or a supporter for the party and vote in their Presidential elections.

I am all for the "Ganbare Nippon" movement and all, but I would like to see a wider range of people involved. People in their 20s would be nice. Some younger people I know actually said they feel like nothing will change anyway, so why bother voting?

Yeah, no way in heck am I going to hand-wash my clothes. Did that back home when we had a week of power outages. -Fridge: I can live without one, it would cost more to eat daily but... -TV: This is something I do not have now, and never will in Japan. -Computer: Cell phones, enough said. -Air Conditioner: Only summer would be hard for me, I love winter. -Audio System: Back home when I actually had two amps with a total of 12 speakers set up (high-school bigger stick competition) I would have said yes to this.

Does anyone know where this is? It would be a pretty cool shot to take...

“I think the problem may be due to the disappearance of true ‘sempai’ (seniors) who can educate the newcomers on proper forms of behavior that should be obvious,” Kawashima adds.

I agree, I am seeing less of the sempai/kohai system here in Japan, especially in these kind of groups. In relation to these trainspotters, perhaps the speed of information and how readily available it is is perhaps a key in this day and age. Why would one need a sempai/kohai system to exist when one could just go online and talk to peers about it. I have met a few of these guys and I would say that most of them are fairly nice, if not a little protective of things they value.

As a reply to the article, I would say a magazine like this does not surprise me in Japan. As was mentioned before, I agree that Japan has a large "copy and paste" culture with very little new information (not just fashion or style) actually written. Now, if only we can get a man to write the same thing for men in Japan, then I would be happy. At least I would not be pestered with the same basic questions every week.