kuroneko comments

Posted in: Japan maglev train project being derailed by Shizuoka stalemate See in context

I am not so sure that Kawakatsu's opposition has anything to do with the Oi river. Most people I have talked to translate Kawakatsu's words as follows: "The train is going to bypass the current Nagoya Shinkansen station, which will result in revenue losses to us."

Nagoya is not in Shizuoka, so I'm not sure why the Shizuoka governor could care less, even if the statement were true (which it isn't).

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Posted in: From a ludicrously capacious bag to fake sausages: 'Succession' props draw luxe prices See in context

You can watch it on U Next

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Chaos at unstaffed Japanese bento shop shows pitfalls of technology See in context

Well, if people stealing a 3 yen bag is a problem in swanky Nishi Azabu, god help the rest of the country.

Nishi-Asakusa and Nishi-Azabu are worlds apart.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan payments clearing system glitch hits 11 banks See in context

全銀 = all banks

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan government plan for Abe state funeral sparks protests See in context

Only 49% supported the idea of a state funeral

Meaning that a maximum of "only" 51% (less probably, due to "don't care" / abstain votes) are against it. In other words, probably more people favour it than oppose it.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Posted in: Japan bars new foreign arrivals for 1 month over Omicron fears See in context

Japan to ban entry of all foreign visitors amid Omicron concerns

All? Not all! One small band of indomitable Gaijin still holds out against the government - reentry permit holders.

14 ( +15 / -1 )

Posted in: Wages in Japan, alone among OECD countries, have been stagnant over 30 years See in context

Speed

Today 09:12 am JST

I remember back in 1984, I had a minimum wage job in California at $3.35 an hour. My buddies in Japan at the time were making about 700 yen per hour minimum wage. I always envied them for getting paid so much more.

In 1984 the average exchange rate USD-JPY was 237.46 so you were actually earning more than they were. The Plaza Accord only happened in 1985.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: Nikkei closes with biggest fall in 3 months on China property fears See in context

Literally an article posted today about a billionaire who lost 87% of his nickles...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Chinese property magnate loses $1 billion in Evergrande panic See in context

Evergrande bonds were sold to Vanguard, Blackrock, etc, who parcelled them up nicely and sold them as CDOs to other banks & investors. The dominoes are set up very much like 2008.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Nikkei closes with biggest fall in 3 months on China property fears See in context

@Reckless

What, you mean like this:

https://japantoday.com/category/world/china-keeps-virus-at-bay-at-high-cost-ahead-of-olympics

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports record 3,177 coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 9,576 See in context

Seems like the artificial cap on case numbers has been released, since now there is no danger of the Cashlympics being cancelled. Now we get to see the real numbers. Hopefully that means that as soon as the farce of a Games is over, we also get to see some real action to tackle them.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Posted in: Missing the moment: Virtual reality's breakout still elusive See in context

What a badly researched article, as most articles in MSM about VR are.

Rivals like the HTC Vive and Samsung's Gear launched in 2015.

Not exactly a rival, since it was developed by Oculus...

Part of the original Quest's success was the first-person shooter VR game “Half-Life: Alyx"

No, it wasn't. The Quest is a standalone headset with a mobile chipset, which doesn't run Half-Life Alyx. HL:Alyx is a PVCR game which requires a high-end PC. You can connect the PC to your Oculus Quest and play HL:A on the Quest that way, but only a small percentage of Quest owners did this - since the whole point of Quest (1) at the time was to target people who couldn't afford the PC setup.

It's the latest disappointment in an industry famous for stop-start progress.

Facebook doesn't release sales figures, but it says Quest 2 sales have been better than expected, and has already outsold all of its predecessors combined since its launch.

Yep, so just ignore the actual facts to continue pushing your false narrative.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: New ‘2-on-1’ style online lessons look to turn 'eikawa' business on its head See in context

The more you speak and practice, the better you should get and the more confidence you acquire.

Unfortunately most Japanese "learners" of English seem to think that 1 40-minute lesson a week with no other input or practice is going to magically turn them into a native speaker.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Posted in: More 'Thrones'? George R.R. Martin signs five-year HBO deal See in context

A 5 year deal? The first 3 chapters of 1 book then, HBO to wing the rest and screw it up like they did GOT.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports 434 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 1,695 See in context

Wow... today's number is even more cynical than I predicted. Less than 3% positive after more than 30% positive the day before? I'd laugh if I wasn't crying.

4 ( +12 / -8 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports 491 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 1,885 See in context

Is that record? Tokyo reported 25 deaths. That also might be a record

@Zoroto but with more deaths, you get fewer people in intensive care. So you can spin it as a positive result!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports 491 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 1,885 See in context

@ian that someone in the administration is just pulling numbers out of a hat at this point which fit an agenda. It is painfully clear that the numbers have no relation to the number of tests (supposedly) being carried out, as can be seen from the wildly fluctuating positive percentages. It is also highly doubtful that the dramatic fall in daily new cases could really have happened, when the SOE amounts to little more than restaurants closing early, while other countries with strict lockdowns have seen a far lower reduction in case numbers despite far stricter measures and restrictions.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports 491 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 1,885 See in context

Expect tomorrow's numbers to be significantly higher, because they will have Monday's test results.

You must be new here. The number is randomly decided within a certain region, and bears no noticeable relation at all to the number of tests.

On Sundays nearly 30% of tests are positive for example but then the next day for example way more tests but similar number of tests 10 or 15 % positive. It is similar week after week

This.

Expect ~500 new cases tomorrow.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Posted in: Nurseries' attempts to cut operations during pandemic spark confusion See in context

The requests, made by municipalities in coronavirus hotspot areas, come amid the closure of a number of nurseries due to cluster infections among staff and children.

Hotspots? Cluster infection? But there are only 276 new cases in Tokyo, the virus is practically gone! /s

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports 1,064 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 4,133 See in context

@Yotomaya I guess you already answered your own question.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports 1,502 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 6,587 See in context

D. Asked my doctor friend if all hospitals near full capacity. (He walks also) He said not at all. Not with Corona, but stats, and you know I like stats, he said possibly prefecture hospitals were, but not private university hospitals and smaller privately owned ones at all.

No surprise there, since its legally required for Corona patients to be treated at public hospitals, not private ones. My sister-in-law who is a nurse says her hospital is overwhelmed.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports 1,219 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 4,876 See in context

Just been to the supermarket..... still no one-way system, still no social distancing in the aisles, still no limit on the numbers allowed to enter at any one time, still people walking around with noses sticking out above their masks, or chin masks, still customers picking up and putting down items over and over and over again, still people using cash to pay, still people disregarding social distancing in every area of the shop (bar the till). Until people learn to change their behavour, numbers will keep going up.

In Germany & in Europe generally, all these rules are implemented: contactless payments, markings on the floor for distancing while lining up, partially having limits on the number of people in the store at the same time. And yet the numbers are still going up.

I really doubt that people are catching coronavirus in the supermarket. I would guess that main vectors (in Europe, where bars & restaurants are closed) are the workplace and private gatherings, as well as (in Japan) bars & restaurants.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Posted in: Suga pledges to improve coronavirus situation in 1 month See in context

Pretty sure that all the naming and shaming does is tell people like @Wobot a list of places they can still go and act ignorant, aka eat, drink and spread the virus.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Suga to declare state of emergency for Tokyo, 3 neighboring prefectures on Thursday night until Feb 7 See in context

Let's take the focus off Tokyo for a minute - You also need to look at the national number of cases, which today is a suspiciousy round 6,000 new cases.

If you look at Germany, which is usually cited as an example of a European country that has dealt "reasonably" well with the virus, back in summer, new cases were in the hundreds (fewer in the whole German population than in Tokyo alone now). At the start of October, the country reached the 1,500 mark again (similar to where Tokyo is now), and then the exponential growth took off. The "6000" mark that Japan is at nationwide now was reached a week after that 1,500 point, and from there the numbers kept on rising.

With the population density of Japan as it is, the danger of exponential growth beyond this point is even higher than Germany, and so expect to see nationwide numbers growing into the 20 and 30 thousands by mid February.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports record high 678 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 2,995 See in context

Boom, here we go. Now that the facade of "Go To" is temporarily over, the J-Gov can start inching towards allowing the real numbers to be shown.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Posted in: Sean Connery's 007 pistol from 'Dr. No' sells for $256,000 See in context

"That's a Smith & Wesson, and you've had your six. Now I'll have mine."

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports 533 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 2,518 See in context

@nonu6976

Imagine there are 500 people with the Rona in a pop. 5 Million city. You test 5000 people who show symptoms, and you get 500 positives.

You test 50000 people and still only get 500 positives.

Go figure.

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

Posted in: Nike ad addresses bullying and racism in Japan; riles up debate online See in context

Seems to me that the ad just says, "be mixed race in Japan and get bullied. Be mixed race in Japan, get good at sports, and don't get bullied anymore".

What about the mixed race kids who suck at sports??

2 ( +10 / -8 )

Posted in: Tokyo reports 314 new coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 1,519 See in context

Zoroto:

180 last Monday, 157 two Mondays ago, 87 three Mondays ago.

Nipponglory:

decreasing trend. it is with strong happiness i can salute the efforts of all the medical staff helping to keep these numbers very low in japan. the numbers here have peaked i am sure.

Someone here is struggling with the maths...

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Posted in: Race to boost financial hub status intensifies among Japanese cities See in context

Good luck tempting new foreign companies and employees when you have proven again and again throughout the Corona crisis that foreigners are not wanted and liable to be locked out of the country and their livelihood at a moment's notice.

And that's before all the other considerations that are the reason why Japan isn't already a financial hub and Singapore is - timezone, language barriers spoken and written, archaic working culture, regulation, bureaucracy... the list goes on.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

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