karakaze comments

Forgot this one. The horrible shrill screetching voice that so many Japanese girls put on. It's literally inescapable--on TV, on the street, on the train. I realize that to Japanese men it is the sexiest thing ever, but to me, it's like nails on a blackboard. My favorite is listening to a young gyaru-mama in a store snarling at her unruly child, and then the phone rings and it's the boyfriend--instant helium voice.

The insulation comment is spot-on. For a country that prides itself so much on being "eco," I cannot imagine how much kerosene and electricity are wasted every year to heat and cool homes that are so poorly insulated they might as well be built of cardboard.

How about all TEPCO upper-level execs give up their salary/bonuses for the next year or two? I'm sure that would save the company a lot of money. But, god forbid the people responsible for making the terrible decisions that put TEPCO in this situation in the first place should suffer any consequences for it... Just say "Moushiwake gozaimasen" and pass it on to the little guy.