Juzetto comments

I am from Europe and can tell you that Japan is 100X more xenophobic than the Old Continent. For one, asylum seekers receive state aid while many of the migrants to Japan actually want to work and sustain THEMSELVES, mostly by doing jobs that the Japanese would not or could not do. I mean, does Abe really expect women and the elderly to do the roadworks? Also, learning Japanese and surviving in this hostile environment (I am Caucasian, got my PhD in Japan, female, with a great job and still encounter a ton of racism and discrimination... I cannot even imagine what other people who are less fortunate than me might go through) is no small feat. Anyone who is not only willing but wanting to stay in the country despite these odds deserves to be given a chance. On top of that, what screwed-up brain came up with the genious idea of separating kids and parents? Does Japan want to raise more psychopaths? Do they really think that their orphanage system is so great? Almost no kids get adopted here and the inter-family relations (there are exceptions of course) are super cold by Western standards (which I can speak for). Yes, the Japanese (especially the bureaucrats) like to follow rules, fulfil duties and act like perpetual robots: never see the human side, think outside the box or act in a way that would indicate they actually have blood flowing in their veins. No question, I have met many Japanese folks who defy these criteria but they struggle as much in their own country as any foreigner would. They are the ones who are trying to change the system and make the country more livable.

Actress?!?!?!? :-)))

A good first step but indeed, this should have been done about 100 years ago. When I read Meiji Era documents and recollections of foreign/Japanese sources the problems they address about their interactions are still the same today. (I teach History.) I often wonder how slowly this country is (not) changing.

The worst are the Cool Japan shows. I mean, for goodness' sake, give the script in their hands to read instead of hiding them from sight! Does anyone really think that those are all spontaneous opinions? I have been here for 10 years and from day one I was expected to provide some sort of Gaijin Monkey Show. When we were taken on a homestay, otosan literally carried me around the village in their convertible and I was promptly instructed to wave to people. A year later the uni took us to an elementary school where we were supposed to demonstrate that gaijins are human, too. I almost fell over with laughter when upon entry we were given a sticker with our names on, a tiny colourful monkey circling the nametags. What goes on on TV is a blown-up version of these grassroots stereotypes. Mind you, it would be difficult to decide which is the chicken and which one would be the egg. And frankly, I sometimes find it easier to pretend that I cannot speak Japanese or read kanji: demonstrating knowledge on an average daily basis freaks the hell out of some of the locals as if they were violated by the odd foreigner who chanced upon a secret code of entry into their culture. That is the very knowledge these TV personalities downplay when acting like outright idiots.

I understand the logic behind wanting the legally charge the mother but immediate concern should be directed towards putting the bany up for adoption as soon as possible. There are many people out there who would be happy to provide a loving home. Sadly, the system in Japan is more concerned about following proper and lengthy procedures rather than focusing on the individual's human needs. This kid can still be saved, do something about that and fast!

So let me get this straight. Asylum seekers get benefits, a roof over their head and are not even fingerprinted (yepp, this was in the German news). But EU citizens need biometric passports or ID cards to go around the world. Hungary got a lot of bad press when they could not cope, all the while trying to uphold the law that required fingerprinting, registration and the like. When the Slovens opened the borders to the migrants they again tried their best at registration but all migrants seem to have claimed to be born on two dates: 1 January or 31 July. No joke. Austria and Germany threw their hands up in the air and in the name of human rights provided all benefits to assist the migrants to stay in their countries, all the while not having a clear idea where they may have come from. Example: the Pashtun who committed the atrocities just last week may be an Afghan or a Pakistani citizen. Nobody knows. Killing Germans for "opposing Islam" is a crazy idea: dude, you are in a nominally Christian country where only migrants pray in mosks. And yes, there are thousands who are real refugees, law-abiding and eager to find a new home in Europe. Sadly, they are likely to be the victims of backlash in the coming months and years.

"Opposition from neighbors fearing noise makes building new centers difficult, while salaries languish, making it hard to attract enough staff." Sick, sick society...

Pretense. That is at the core of all these events in Japan. This accident is actually out in the open but there are millions of other cases when idiotism is labelled as DUTY, DEVOTION, SUPPORT and the list goes on. Will there ever be space for creative thinking, constructive criticism and individual incentive even if that individual is a company??? Superficiality is the lieu here, what can we expect...