jpntdytmrow comments

Yubaru: "How is the cop stopping you going to know that you have been living here that long, just by looking at you? I've been here over 30 years as well, and I can count on one hand the number of times police have stopped me to "advise me not to cause trouble".....zero! I've been stopped at the typical road blocks set up to check for drunk drivers, but nothing else. Oh wait, I forgot, I got a speeding ticket about 30 years ago...... I took Japanese citizenship because I didn't like having to pay taxes all the time, and NOT have a voice in the political process. I do not understand why people who have lived here so long, and have no intentions of returning to their home countries dont apply for citizenship, but complain about the discrimination or BS they have to deal with. Yeah I still deal with ignorant people who dont know the difference between nationality and ethnicity, typically I ignore them because they dont count. There are dumb-asses like that the world over!"

I appreciate your response and fully agree. I contemplated it for quite some time. However, given the era I arrived in, the lifestyle I led, and my employment and financial situation, it was necessary for me to maintain my "foreign" citizenship. It would have simply rendered me unemployed. Now, I am not sure what any benefit would be. I have been randomly stopped, as has my son, Japanese, countless times for no reason other than his appearance and beard. I am sure no one in my family would appreciate having their spouse, friend, child stopped and asked for ID on the way home from more than 12 hours of work as my son repeatedly was. Being on a bicycle was another reason. They were checking to see if he had stolen it.

Would my voting for one of the smiling faces on a campaign board change the situation much? But, thank you for voting.

since 1981: I also have lived here over 30 years. I just wonder at what point one is able to unpack and start calling Japan home if we continue to see ourselves as permanent tax-paying visitors. Are we never to stand up proud and have a voice as a full member of society? In our home countries of yore, do we expect legal and tax-paying permanent residents to show their ID at any situation like a baseball game, a commute from work, cherry blossom viewing with family, waiting for a bus, an after work drink with co-workers? I am not sure I would feel comfortable having my spouse, my child, my neighbor, my colleague being stopped repeatedly on the street by a police officer in my home country and advising them not to cause trouble and smile and remember that they are visitors after 30 or more years of being a decent member of society, if still not a full citizen. I am not sure why the rules are any different for Japan? How is it any more exceptional than any other modern nation in the way it treats members of society? I am just sincerely thinking aloud here... but I (and I assume you) am living here until the end likely and is that being a visitor?

7

Give Supey11 a job! Very clever!

Supey11Sep. 15, 2016 - 11:43AM JST

"Somehow I imagine that keeping the lights on, doors open, and products (even a single item) makes the business still officially functioning, even with no staff, which therefore creates a tax break of some sort and/or prevents the place from being condemned, abandonded, bankrupt, or something else the owner wants to avoid. Its probably all a tax write off for some other business, and I also bet that by having perishable fresh food it allows for some other loophole. A hundred yen for an onion is not outlandish to be suspect (its not 10,000) but its also too high to ever worry about running out of stock. Also, with a shelf life of a couple weeks, they need not be checked on. Pretty clever."

Government employees should stop working by 8 p.m. They will enjoy that. But, there are still going to be the after work meetings at the bar to attend where important relationships are formed and as I have personally been told by my Japanese husband, that if he does not attend, he will be out of the loop. My request for nightly dinners with the children were met with anger and I was told that I did not understand the need to communicate with coworkers and clients and that I was to blame for his not rising in the company. There are parties, weddings, funerals to attend to. Couples do not attend because the going price for a wedding is 30,000 yen or so per person. "Only one member of a family needs to attend." In the rural areas, there are festivals that take up weeks of time! And the men have to gather and drink to share their memories of being drunk the week before! Seriously! Children grew up without a father at home. We have a long commute so one could say that is to blame. When we lived closer to his company, he just stayed out longer because he could get the last train. If they do get off earlier, will there be more time for board games, video games, nightly bedtime stories to children and relaxing time with the husband and wife? Or will they be doing their own Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, You Tube things with their groups? Social media is way more enjoyable for many than personal verbal and physical interaction with a spouse. Living in the same home and face timing on social media is not my idea of romance. So, well, good luck with getting people to stop working by 8p.m. Could happen! It is quite another thing to have them go home. Men do not want to go home here on the whole. What's more, women and children often do not want the men to be home at all. They are selfish and demanding. Get a group of women together here, and they mostly complain about their husbands. I just came back from Europe. Fascinating to seem men and women actually enjoying time together! I had all but forgotten that happens. Sorry, Governor Koike, it is not just about working too much.

A woman at the beach. A mother outdoors with her child. I only care that a woman is able to play freely with her child in the sea and laugh aloud. Enjoy summer! Wear what you want, or whatever allows you to go outside and be free. Seems this is about men telling women what to or what not to wear. I can only see a ban leading to some women being ironically forced to stay in hotel rooms while their family is frolicking in the sea and sun. Which is sadder? She stares longingly out the hotel window watching her family play because she is not allowed to go outside. I would never want to be responsible for keeping a woman locked inside. Let them wear what they must. Just help them get out! And, try talking to her. How about a friendly greeting instead of a cold stare?

I was just told today that the people looking for bamboo shoots are paid quite a lot for the freshest and largest ones. upward of 20,000 yen was the price given! I guess they sell them to organic restaurants in larger cities and that would be quite a good income for elderly people in rural areas. Deer horns, I was told by a hunter last autumn sell for ....70,000 yen! So, I reckon they knew there were bears in the area. At 74, they cannot be too naive! Spotting quite a few bears west of Tokyo as well! And boar and deer.

Marriage is not easy. It is particularly difficult when companies include long work hours, extra and unexpected work, obligatory participation in non-work-related events, including weddings and funerals (like the boss's grandmother!! I kid you not). Weekly meetings after work with much required alcohol consumption, rare nights at home with the family, particularly hard to handle when a woman has children to tend to, bathe, cook for, read stories, illnesses to deal with, without any help whatsoever, and a spouse comes home high from a great and productive night out in Ginza with entertainment and may not have any patients in dealing with children vomiting, having diarrhea, 39 degree fevers or babies that will just not go to sleep despite the looming hangover of the father. I am lucky that my husband never referred to me as a "dragon" or a "parasite" like some of the commenters obviously see women. Those are the very men who are most likely not a full partner and enjoying the depth of family and friendship a marriage can offer. This is a reality in Japanese families. Add to this a job that the wife may have to juggle. She decides it is better to let her busy and over-worked husband sleep alone and focus on his career. I have a letter from a former executive "explaining " how it was essential for me to be supportive of my husband's career. Couples often seem to hate one another here and do not actually communicate and have fun. After decades of marriage, grown children, we are better friends. The hellish early child-rearing times are over. What next. Okay, get to know one another again. We bought a great new bed. Sleep really well and together. The new mattress is so good the other does not even know when another is getting up in the middle of the night! We do not discuss our marital problems with others. Tempting. But, it is our rule. Sometimes we are so busy we have to make appointments to meet. Social media can be so interesting that one forgets that one actually lives with other humans! So, we limit it and make time to be together. As sexual activity naturally wanes, there are a lot of other things to do and are fun! We try to stay at least physical. Build things. Take power walks. Recently, we were really angry at each other. We walked in silence for like, 2 hours, burning calories and stuck out in the middle of nowhere, but it was great! Go ahead and be angry but play paint ball or buy water guns! Don't think about divorce just because he or she is a jerk at some point! Admit our own weak points and kiss and make up. Set up a bar at home and sing bar songs, rock songs, Country and Western songs, enka, whatever. Record them and listen and do the unthinkable-- LAUGH! I do not want to be a stuffy old couple. We plan on being human around any ensuing in-laws and/or grandkids. We have had to lighten up! Not easy, but in it for the long haul! Till death or murder do us part! 31 years down, few more to go!

Keep positive, JT.

For sho! Leave this ridiculous place and get some real training from pros, do some real acting or writing or anything, but why would anyone waste all that training and education to become a ludicrous J-talento? Dead end and meaningless career! Of all the things not to have on my tombstone..."J-talento" is in the top 3 at least! Go do something real!

Humas can still be used in the sex industry, organ donations, battle fields, prisons......but seriously, it has to be thought about. What can people do that robots cannot? We have to admit that all things being equal, all human beings are not being raised and educated equally. Food, shelter, schooling, financial security are not what greets all new borns. It is a reality.

Here's a deal: he shoots himself, I vote for him!

There was a home in our rural town whose cottage industry was making these balloons and delivering them to companies. The home burned down some years ago. But, I wonder when I see these in say, car dealerships, if they are made of special materials that withstand heat and cold changes. They seem not to be the average kiddie party types sold at 100 yen shops.

Japan will send a huge cache of plutonium—enough to produce 50 nuclear bombs —to the United States as part of a deal to return the material that was used for research, reports and officials said Tuesday.

"Some 331 kilograms of the highly fissionable material will be sent by ship to a nuclear facility in South Carolina by the end of March, Kyodo News reported Monday in a dispatch from Washington that cited unnamed Japanese government sources. "

No one comments on THAT!?

Happy holidays, to all the commenters here! Totally forgot what the article was about and before we knew it, we were on You Tube cruising down the mean streets with Isaac Hayes and John Shaft. Where are the people with guts?

"Shaft. You're damm right!"

Not at all. Nor is it outdated for a woman to offer her seat to a man who is in need. What goes around comes around as they say. The Golden Rule and all that. Just be kind. It feels good, too, no matter the social status or gender. The other day, a middle-aged woman occupied the 4-seater compartments on a rural train. I asked to sit. She begrudgingly let me. THEN, she took off her hiking boots AND socks and began massaging her FEET! Amazing! No, manners are limited to one gender!

from the ROCKET NEWS (not) 24 "Other anomalies include Finland which ranked high among European countries with 74% of people willing to throw down. Perhaps because they have the solemn duty of protecting Santa’s workshop at all costs."

I completely agree with obvious complete lack of knowledge of anything by the (insert own adjective here) who wrote this article.

Whatever may have possibly and even remotely had teeth in this article is completely null and void by the obvious lack of knowledge of say.....oh, 20th Century history, particularly ....WWII perhaps?!

Look at a map and that in and of itself should be a clue that Finland was lucky not to have become like Estonia or any other country bordering the USSR!!!

People with memories of that experience are still alive. Thanks to Mocheake and Noble 713 for drawing attention to this. Why oh why do we have to have Rocket (news)24 around?

Note to self: If caught on highway having raw eggs dropped on my car, remember location of bridge. Exit next ramp. Drive back to bridge. Stop at a convenient store to buy .....raw eggs.....as many cartons as they have. Go to bridge. Get out of car and throw eggs at the jerks on the bridge until the police arrive. 500 eggs would take a long time to drop so how were they able to have so much time for this act TWICE in ONE day from the SAME bridge!?

Ogata for Prime Minister, please!!

Survey of some better seniors in a Japanese high school class showed me that most thought Japan should not take in refugees. Reasons were: Japan is and island. Japan has not fixed Tohoku. The Olympics are too expensive. It is too hard for foreigners to adapt to Japan. There are not enough jobs for them and that will lead them t riot.Japanese cannot communicate with foreigners. There are not enough nursery schools to take care of them. Japan is too far and they will not enjoy it here. Only a few said they thought Japan should accept them. Many said they honestly had not heard about the situation.

Parties all over. Kawasaki, Odaiba, Hachioji, Kokubunji Station on the 24th, even kindergartens are getting into it!Mine has had a real scary one for 10 years! Kids love it! One for little ones tonight with a local parade.

Exactly. I have fond memories of writing nengajo by hand and being excited to get the stack on New Year's Day. I have all of my grandmother's letters saved.

nakanoguy01Oct. 30, 2015 - 04:03PM JST "i know more and more people have stopped sending negajo, but it really is nice to get something from old friends once a year letting you know how they are. i hate facebook letting me know the minutae of everyone's daily lives. TMI!"

I　watched this several times and noticed every time that the woman, is basically doing in English what many Japanese women do in Roppongi, and that is laughing an anything a "gaijin" man says. It would be great if the show were really about the business and other talents of these women alone and things that would make them more interesting. It seems more like a Hugh Hefner type show with his groopies of "intelligent beauties." Didn't seem like the women had much to do with giving us a new image of the image of "Japanese women" so often seen in the want ads of men looking for "the right Japanese woman." Kind of GHQ-ish. Or, 1970's-ish? Maybe Bubble era at best? Something old-school.Watch. Japanese women who can speak English.

Japan comes UP to the level of KUWTK.

Basically liked all the replies. Owned a Chevy Blazer. FUN! BUT, parts corroded and brake pads wore out on rural winding roads in Japan. Parts were hard to get and expensive and the gas mileage.... well, could not afford to keep that joy ride!

Have owned 3 Toyotas. Why three? All extremely good, rarely any trouble, save some road damage to tires. Parts easily accessible. Brake pads on same winding roads NEVER needed replacing! All cars were bought used, in great condition. Japanese take good care of cars so used ones are naturally, still good! So, why did I replace the cars? Because the shaken became too much for the value of the car, so I replaced them with bettr but used cars. What happened to the used cars? Well, they found a new life in "some countries in Asia." There are any number of used car dealers from various Asian countries willing to ship a good used Toyota or part it out.

They are coveted in Central Asia, too. I would want a reliable car in the desert and on treacherous narrow, steep mountain roads where landslides occur and there is extreme temperature change. Next car, a used TOYOTA!! 100%

I felt confused there. I entered on the first floor and was told I "was doing it wrong and not following the arrows on the floor!" Really weird experience. I thought the beer section was a good idea! Needed it after that complete overload. Left with a bathmat that is still in tact. The funny part was the little fridge magnet cannisters. There were a number of us fondling them lovingly and simultaneously wondering aloud what in the heck one would really put in those. Too small for pasta. Too big for pain killers. Spices? Paper clips? Really cool, but didn't get one. Haven't been back. No online shopping and it is just too far for the value. Bought a great wooden-iron rocking chair at J-MART this summer.

Let's see, now.... yes, yes, back in the first half of the 20th Century, the world was at war twice with a particular country with a particular ethnicity, belief system and ideology. Some of the US soldiers fighting that particular nation were of the same ethnicity and religion, German and Christian. One of my US ancestors received the Purple Heart for being killed in action while fighting against the nation his father came from. One general in particular stands out as being a German-American with a very recognizably German surname. Nevertheless, his family had been in the USA for many generations and the USA still entrusted him with their security. So much so, that after the war with the German nation of his ancestors, he was elected POTUS. It is possible to see people for their own self worth and not as a representative of an entire ethnic, nation, or religion. Indeed, many of us hope that that is the case with the USA, the EU, and possibly, Japan where most posters here reside with many having children with names, surnames, ethnicities, religions, beliefs, customs that set them aside from the majority population. Not to get too preachy, but I cannot hope for the freedoms, rights and opportunities given to my mixed-race children in this country, if I, myself, would deny such to others in my home country.

See this fascinating video to get an idea of what "a bag" is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCP7PFT9coU How many stored there along the OCEAN shoreline! wow!!

I grew up in the US with children from the urban areas moving to the suburban areas, and our area becoming mixed race and culture. Hispanic, Italian and German descendants were there from early on after the Native American population was removed. People from Vietnam, Laos came as well. Later, more children from Korea came. Most of the average Caucasian kids were from families who moved from neighboring rural states for job opportunities. Homes were bought, sold, rented, regularly. My neighboring homes there now have had well over 6 inhabitants over the centuries. Honestly, one of the hardest parts about raising kids in Japan is that there is very little casual interaction with various cultures outside of the core urban areas. I am sure the empty homes and rural areas in Japan could handle and thrive with more people of different cultures. The schools are getting more students from various backgrounds. They are growing up and entering the work force. The face of Japan is changing, little by little. But, still have not met one Japanese who is supportive of accepting refugees.

toshikoSep. 12, 2015 - 09:23AM JST Thank you toshiko!

@jpntdaytmorrow: How does one say, "Oh, that is just heart-breaking" in Japanese? I am sure I have never heard this type of expression.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Shinzouga harisakeru youna itamashii hanashi desu ne. '

Just one of too many expressions since you wrote heart, I wrote one that includes heart. There are many expressions that contain heart ache. Read Japanese novels that are sad story speciality.

Two Germans I know personally wrote of their own experiences as child refugees. The elder crossed the Oder River in 1945 when her family was expelled from land they had called home for hundreds of years just 3 km away. Remembering that experience and hardship, she said she welcomed them. Her tiny town was accepting 200 or so. The other friend escaped with his siblings and parents August 13, 1961 from East Berlin to West Berlin. Each child was sent to an orphanage until parents settled and could raise them. Recalling his hardship and that experience, he wrote that it was an exciting time and they are more than willing to help these people in their times of need. I was impressed. In high school, I commuted by city bus and talked each morning with an Afghan refugee in the early '80's. I can still recall some of the conversations we had. Nah, I think it will work out. No need to show cartoons to refugees anyway. They are busy trying to stay alive.

Having read many of the comments here by readers (like myself) who are living in Japan only because we were allowed to get some type of visa, it rather amazes me how many likes are attached to what can only be seen as bigoted comments. It is one thing to be bigoted and xenophobic in one's home country, but quite another to say that certain races or religions are not welcome in an adopted country where one's visa could be removed at any given moment or twist of policy. When push comes to shove, this government is not going to make any distinctions between believers of "a 7th Century" religion and those who believe a "zero" Century or a "pre-zero Century" religion! All things being equal, foreign is as foreign does when the doors close!

It is easy to go on about one's business in the urban areas and choose whether or not to greet one of many non-Japanese. Interesting to talk with people of all walks of life on a train ride. Meeting non-Japanese at rural stations with few trains moving can be awkward. There is a time limit it seems. Get in at the beginning or forever hold your peace. It ain't gonna happen after 3 minutes from the initial awkward eye contact. But, one time, I struck up a conversation with a non-Japanese person, and it turned out that we had worked together 20 years earlier and time had taken it toll on us and we were unrecognizable but so happy to know the other was living life with all its ups and downs, births and deaths. Sometimes it seems like we should speak and the other doesn't want to. Particularly if one is a tourist. They will never ask me for directions. So, I do not want to interfere in their adventure. Others obviously have lived here a long time and simply do not want to strike up a conversation. Some reasons are that conversations between long term residents quickly become like a job interview or an interrogation, "What do you do here?" "Are you married?" "Kids?" "farming?" "PTA?" "Place of origin?" "Speak Japanese?" and on and on into the night. Or, the opposite, where they will tell you every minute aspect of their life in Japan and give their credentials, and how many fascinating hobbies they have. Simply exhausting for someone who may be late for a job interview, going on a date, have had a tragedy in the family, a marital fight, kid in the hospital, wanting to enjoy a much deserved day off, got transferred, demoted, promoted, stopped by police, has a hangover, or who seems to be of the same culture or nationality but in reality does not speak the same language. Forgive me for not greeting someone because they are non-Japanese on the train or street or festival or supermarket. I may want to but understand that others may not want to for whatever reason. Or, I may have a headache or be really tired.

This week, I asked a group of middle aged adults to talk about the more major issues, news stories of the week. First topic was.......... The Olympic EMBLEM scandal. They went on and on about this! So, I brought up the refugee situation in Europe. One did not want to talk about it, "Oh, that." and another had no idea, "What's that?" and others knew and wanted to discuss it. It was not a very accurate discussion, and when I asked whether Japan should take in more refugees to help Europe out, they adamantly said, "NO!" I did not sense any feelings of sympathy toward the refugees or the countries hosting them. Interestingly, this is the same response to any conversation regarding people of Fukushima. I wonder what they will have to say about the recent rain victims in northern Japan. It seems there is very little sympathy toward others. It may not be fair to call Japan a racist nation, across the board which JT wishes to avoid, understandably, but it seems extremely rare to find sincerely empathetic responses about human beings in need, be they in Japan or abroad.....just an observation based on over 3 decades of living here.....Maybe I'm not meeting the right people.

How does one say, "Oh, that is just heart-breaking" in Japanese? I am sure I have never heard this type of expression.