JCosplay comments

I heard about this Quad thing, nice to see it’s finally being realized. I mean with China’s aggressiveness in the South China Sea alone, not to mention the border scrimmages with India, nice to see that this is happening.

@Desert Tortoise

China's large population cannot justify ignoring centuries old international laws of the sea or the territorial integrity of China's neighbors. China is forcing out fishing fleets of other nations in the western Pacific and South China Sea in an attempt to claim all the regions resources for themselves and at the expense of everyone else. Chinese fishing boats with armed crew members enter the South Korean EEZ, board South Korean fishing boats and beat their crews. Chinese fishing boats do the same in international waters. Those "fishermen" are armed by the PLAN and act as a maritime militia used to terrorize the fishing fleets of other nations in the region. They send naval units into Vietnam's EEZ to harass oil exploration ships contracted by the government of Vietnam to explore for oil within their legitimate EEZ. China claims most of Vietnam's EEZ as sovereign Chinese territorial waters. Look at a map and see how ridiculous their claims are. That cannot be allowed to stand. This has absolutely nothing to do with imperialism so don't throw that old nonsense out there. China is behaving as the imperialist in this case.

Yes, all excellent points there. Especially the part about China now being the imperialist. It’s like I’ve said many times before, “two wrongs don’t make a right.”

@smithinjapan

I really wish Japan would focus on domestic issues as a priority instead of wanting to look big in the eyes of the world all the time. All you hear is "We want to make (Japanese city/location) the hub of Asia/world" and then the people in the region, if not the nation as a whole, suffer while they attempt in vain to accomplish it.

You know, I very much agree with your sentiment and what you’re saying. I mean, just their overall issues regarding the workplace, as well as all the pressure being put on students, is reason enough to back off on this one and focus on those two issues alone. I mean yes, there have been significant improvements as of late. But still, from all that I’ve heard, it’s still a fairly big problem.

@Oxycodin

I wonder why most Majority of the APAC head office is in Singapore?? Especially Information Technology? Where did all the good IT jobs go to they went to Singapore and left Tokyo.

Well I don’t know why the IT jobs went there, but ask for jobs in general, there’s one reason why Singapore it’s such a prominent city in that regard, in the APAC region. One place actually.

The Straight of Malacca

@kaerimashita

I fully agree that Tokyo is the most prominent candidate here. And about the language barrier issues, I was there last December on vacation, and I saw a lot more English around the city that I could’ve ever expected, and I’ve been into Japanese culture for like 20 years, and I was still shocked.

And you’re right on another thing, that is a great photo at the beginning of the article. Just another reason why Tokyo’s a very attractive candidate, considering that you have that look out the office windows there. A picturesque scene indeed.

See? For all those that were saying that under Suga, it would be the same old same old basically, well now there’s proof that won’t necessarily be the case. I’m not saying he’s gonna bring massive landslide changes or anything, I was just saying that it won’t be entirely the same. And again, now there’s proof.

@Larr Flint

To be honest I don't care because I don't use anything which is more expensive than 1500yen per month, but still think it's a robbery to charge 4000 yen plus for a monthly plan.

well here in the US, where I live, I have a plan that’s $35 a month, and while I get unlimited talk and text, I only get 10 gigs a month. And I was mostly because of the pandemic where I used to have five gigs a month.

I mean I don’t know what they have in terms of talking text in Japan, but what I have is one of the cheapest plans you can get here in the US. So just to put things in perspective anyways.

"Global warming measures are no longer obstacles for economic growth, but would lead to industrial and socio-economic reforms and a major growth," he said. "We need to change our mindset."

Couldn’t agree more with the statements by Suga. I just hope he really does have the influence to make these policies a reality.

@Jtsnose

And that first part, about your parental advice in general, those are all very good points. A lot of that stuff is not practiced by a lot of parents, and I won’t get into the details, but I know a lot of parents who are like that unfortunately.

I also know a lot of parents who do know better, and I try to keep in close contact with them. Because if and when I have kids myself, I want to go down the latter route, and I know that these people will help guide me there.

@Jtsnose

As a parent, I would like to offer some advice: make certain your child has enjoyable, intellectual activity during their youth (biking, hiking, sight seeing, learning foreign language) with parents; also, it's a good idea to visit a country like the U S, (where is safe, e.g. California, Northeast coast) in order see their own home in perspective (I think most Japanese are lucky to live in a place like Japan, seeing another country will make them feel more grateful) . . . make certain they have some fun, before they get to the age where they are asked to take on more responsibility.

I agree with everything that you said. And about the second part of what you said, I’m from the US, and I’m trying to move to Japan. However, especially with this pandemic, steady work doesn’t come easy. I say this, because I’m looking to get into a vocational school, but since that’s a two year thing, I have to work for that, plus however long it will take me to save up to apply to said school. And you were right on in terms of how lucky people actually have in Japan compared to US. Believe me, I know.

@oldman13

Good man, nice to see people being proactive.

you said it! Especially with an issue as terrible and personal as this.

You know, some of you were talking to mental imagery regarding this. I think that’s actually a very appropriate thing to talk about, considering that this whole story is giving me a headache. I mean I don’t even know where to begin with this one, the fact that as a Prime Minister he didn’t refuse, or the fact that he cosplayed as Mario itself, or the fact that after a 20 hour flight, he complained about waiting for 10 minutes. Seriously, I don’t even know where to start with this one.

@Fighto!

Im not convinced the UK should be a part of the Trans PACIFIC partnership. Theyd be better off sticking to their region to forge deals, for many reasons. 

But this free-trade pact just signed will mean cheaper Japanese cars, machines tech and robots for UK, and much cheaper British drugs, meat, cheese, beer and Scotch for Japanese. Win-win!

Yes, I agree with you wholeheartedly Fighto! Since Britain is not Pacific nation, nation be too concerned about the trans PACIFIC partnership, as you said in your comment. I do support this free trade deal in general, but Britain literally needs to stay in its own sphere on things it’s not a part of.

Nice to see that the first part of this trip is going well apparently. Now we’ll see how the rest of it will go, especially Vietnam in a day or two.

And for all of you who are criticizing Suga’s suit, or even his lack of charisma, it’s like come on guys. That’s not the reason why he’s going on his trip. And the reason why Suga may or may not be a good Prime Minister has nothing to do with his suit or even charisma. Let’s focus on the issues people, let’s focus on the issues.

@NipporiNick yeah, that’s the point that I was going to make. So for him to say freedom loving nations in terms of one of them being Vietnam, I was going to say no, Vietnam’s Communist too. Good on you for pointing that out as well.

@sakurasuki

“Tackling Japan's low birthrate and shrinking population head-on, he favors granting insurance coverage for infertility treatments.”

By only favoring insurance for infertility treatment? There are plenty ways in improving birthrate.

Well let’s not put words in Suga’s mouth here. I mean, the article only cited the infertility treatment policy. It didn’t say anything about that being the only policy he had regarding improving Japan’s birthrate. So like I said, let’s not put words in his mouth.

@kurisupisu

Suga will do little to change Japan where it counts.

In a few months or years he will step down and little will have changed.

I don’t think so. I mean, considering all that he’s doing to rush through changes already, I doubt very highly that little would change. We can debate about whether or not some of these changes are good, but there’s no doubt about the fact that he’s fighting very hard for change, as we can already see.

And considering how disgrace that China is now, I don’t think we have to worry about them taking over anything regarding digital currency. Not on the world stage anyway. Because in order for that to work, that involves most countries trusting in China. And as we all know, most countries are moving away from China, so I really don’t see this happening.

"But new technology is invented all the time. Even if you're ahead on the technology available now, you could get locked into what becomes old technology as time passes," he told Reuters.

Very good point he made there. Another good example, is North Korea versus South Korea. Sure, in the 60s, they were well ahead of South Korea at the time. Well take a look at the two countries now. Need I say more?

In terms of how it looks in the photo, is it just me, or does it look really futuristic/New Age?

@JohnBecker

Yeah, the low ceiling height is bothersome, but you have to keep in mind that it's a very old station, and there's stuff just above that ceiling (pipes, cables, the tracks when you cross under them, lots of other underground stuff). Raising the ceilings (and everything behind them) is an easy way to turn a $200 million project into a $400 million project.

Very good point! Because, as we solve the Olympics especially, projects like these can be really expensive as it is. So why in the world would you want to make it even more expensive, considering the fact that it’s mostly for Japanese people anyway?

@BigYen

It's the first phase of the travel bubble, a rare good moment in the history of this pandemic over the course of this year.

If you take a look at Japan, with all the easing of restrictions that have been going on there, you’ll see more good moments as well.

@stewie

Regardless of which side of the political fence we all sit, i think she has done a great job of steering her country through a difficult time. She deservers to be allowed to continue, as it looks like she will.

Well put Stewie! Seriously, couldn’t have said it better myself. Because what’s the point in having a great economy, or whatever campaign promises you made, if you’re suffering or even dying from Covid?

The one unequivocal good thing about this, is that this makes Japan less dependent on the US for military purposes. While this certainly won’t end it’s dependency, it’s another step in the right direction for breaking the dependency. Because as we’ve seen in the past few years alone, we can’t rely upon the US forever. I live in the US, so believe me, I know.

If it wasn’t for how South Korea has been handling this issue, I would be against us. But considering the fact that they just won’t let it go, despite the 1965 agreement, I say good on Suga for doing this. And since it hasn’t even been a month really since he’s been Prime Minister, a good way to show his leadership skills early.

@kohakuebisu

You can argue that this spending is not enough, but the government is certainly not spending "nothing" on the disaster victims. That is completely false. I've never heard of the UK government helping people to this extent after floods.

Very good point! I live in the US, so I know of plenty of stories here regarding that kind of stuff.

Marumori Mayor Kunio Hoshina said at the local memorial event, "Reconstruction will still take time, but we will work together to realize a peaceful life."

Yes, I’m glad to see this. But hopefully that will include finding permanent housing for all those still in temporary housing as well. Otherwise, this plan can’t be truly realized.

@Monty

But most of the japanese companies are not smart, because they prefer personal business trips than video conferences.

Since the pandemic starts, my company starts Video Conferences, but the management don't like it. Even everything goes well. And now, because the travel restrictions are getting easier, they already want us to go abroad for business. 

That is not smart.

yes, these are all very good points. I mean, the only thing I can think of are things in which require in person meetings or to be in person to accomplish. But I wonder what exactly those would be?

@Toshihiro

...But still, I think these types of proving your identification should be obsolete by now with phones having facial recognition and fingerprint scanning.

you know, I didn’t think about that part of it, with phones that can do that stuff. But still, the only problem I see with that is the whole privacy issue. Especially with the facial recognition, because we’ve seen how phones can get hacked and such. But like I said other than that, that’s a very good idea.