Kommentator comments

Agree with Ultradude about Ichiro's still depending on an interpreter, though he supposedly can converse quite well on his own. Same for Matsui and the others. At least Hasegawa made a point to learn and use English.

Nice timing, right before the Mariners held their Japan Heritage Night.

Mike, how are the marines going to defend Japan against North Korea, even in the very unlikely event NK were capable of launching an attack with its lack of resources and underfed troops?

So why are more than half of those supposedly Japan-based marines actually in places like Afghanistan right now?

The Christianists are taking over America. Ironic, since the country was founded on the concept of freedom of and from religion. I wonder what they think about the cathedral, representing terrorist Timothy McVeigh's faith, located so near the site of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Pretty good article, summing up lots of information. On a side note, I appreciate the translation to metric units, but it would be nice if the US would adopt the world standard system so this step would no longer be necessary.

Whether the ocean will cleanse itself is unknown. When the amount of oil reaches a tipping point, it can leave behind permanent ecological change that includes wiping out certain species of plants and animals. This has already happened in the past and could well happen this time. Besides, it's the combination of oil with other forms of pollution that causes the worst damage.

This is the most depressing thing I've read in a while. The "Drill, baby, drill" people look so small and silly now. So do the "small government" governors crying for federal government help. In the end, though, we all live by oil and may die by oil.

Smoking while driving should be banned, for sure, but some people are better at it than others. I once saw a guy smoking and talking on a cell phone while driving. When the car in front of him stopped for a red light, he drove around that car and on through the light, while continuing to smoke and talk on his phone.

These news reports pay too much attention to magnitude. It's the amount of shaking on land that really matters, and that relates to depth and location. This one was only 10 km deep and was located well away from land, so shaking was minimal. I doubt, looking at the shake maps, that "buildings swayed in Taipei" is an accurate description.

If the ashes from Katla were to reach the upper stratosphere in large quantities, the damage would be to far more than the airline industry. Past volcanic eruptions have caused major famines because the sunlight is partially blocked for years. I remember 1991, when Japan's rice crop largely failed and we had to wait in lines for the little available rice, due to an eruption in the Philippines. Katla could be much worse. So could Eyjafjallajokull, for that matter, if it becomes increasingly active over the coming months and years.

Sure, Japan has some loud rightwingers, but how many of them have been elected to office? Now compare the recent Hungary elections, or Austria, Australia, or the Republicans/Tea Party in the US. There the right actually has a strong following. Here we just ignore them.

Jim Sciutto of ABC News tweets that "Dense fog at airport, plane crashed on 4th approach. Pilot advised to divert to diff airport." He also notes that the government had put off upgrading to a new plane from Brazil as planned.

I'm curious how the protestors came to be identified as "right-wingers". Are they members of such an organization? The article does not tell us. Personally I think they can show the film, but why should anyone want to watch it? Doesn't sound like much fun.

I hope the addicts start taking a hint. We don't want your smoke in our lungs and on our clothes and hair. If you can't quit, get professional help.

Many of these are wonderful films. Too bad about people from puritan cultures who can't deal with it.

Why do people feel the need to listen to music while on the move? It's an insult both to those around you (i.e., anti-social) and to music (anti-cultural).

I'm surprised the story doesn't mention the poor lad who was crushed to death in the revolving-door entranceway to the building.

This has been a very enlightening discussion thread, despite the noise thrown up by people who don't want to bothered by facts. Thanks to people like davidattokyo for actually contributing some useful information.

So I ask for an international law and all you can come up with is a highly dubious Australian law.

OK, Rudd and company, name the international law that Japan has violated. Same for you, tkoind2. How can you bring a country to court without that bit of information? Courts don't make decisions based on fuzzy feelings.

Drones are great for no-risk slaughter of civilians. If Iran had such weapons, the Western powers and Israel would be raising bloody hell. Oh, and did you know Israel has nuclear weapons? And sends hit squads into other countries to take out their perceived enemies? Just another peaceful country, nothing to worry about here.

People with guns kill people, or themselves, or both. The 2nd Amendment is America's eternal curse.

"they actually aren't fish (as most Japanese believe)." Huh? I've never met a Japanese person who thought they were fish. We actually have schools here where people learn such basic facts.

Makukun is exactly right. "Critics say the scientific program is a front for commercial whaling, and much of the meat is eaten." Yes, that's also true, but it's also exactly in accord with the arrangement forced on Japan by the IWC. It is entirely to save the face of the IWC that this silly arrangement exists.

Stopping Saddam from what? He was not a threat to the US or Britain and had nothing to do with 9/11. Why was it necessary to practically destroy Iraq just to change the regime from a strong one to anarchy? Women and Christians were much better off under Saddam than today. The universities thrived. The nuttier Islamic cults were kept under control. Now everything is turned upside down because of those clowns Bush and Blair.

It is never good timing. Shikkari shirou!

This was expected, but it still is significant as it shows Okinawans are leaning toward the view that the benefits of the bases are outweighed by their problems. There is no way the LDP-jiggered agreement is going to be carried out. Best to move Futenma's facilities to Guam.

Purchasing agents? Why not just "buyers"?

How can anyone reading this article, and knowing the facts, think Japan should just go along with the earlier LDP agreement? A good article, but blaming Hatoyama's reluctance on Fukushima is a bit simplistic. He himself has long felt uncomfortable with the US military's permanent presence in Japan.