kurtp comments

Planning to finally visit Japan again this summer. So if I walk around without a mask I will not get arrested but might get a few annoyed stares and do the image of gaijin in Japan a great disservice? Thanks all for letting me know.

Fully agree with you, sourpuss. A real can of worms opened here. The kid should be adopted technically. That would be fine but not this PC approach. Might seem right to some but I beg to differ.

Wow some of the comments here are really shocking. I guess people opposing privatisation have no experience of how bad things were in Britain in the past. The reason energy prices are up is due to government imposed regulations around green power etc.

The very LAST thing we need or want... just more noise pollution!

Noripinhead - Tokyo IS gray, from the moment you enter the clnic-like arrivals hall of Narita. Gray and clean.....

Come on people, you've obviously never been on a train in London or elsewhere - Japanese are very good in comparison, except for the odd exception or gaijin misbehaving!

Hughgarse, I AM talking about Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic. Certainly good for business class, but economy...come on!

Reminds me of my Japanese studies in Fukuoka years ago, where the teachers would never open the classroom windows, or the yoga lessons I attended in Ginza, again I had to ask for the A/C to be turned on.... there's a surprising lack about getting fresh air in Japan - or is it just me?

Probably abucted by a North Korean sub...

Simple solution: Get yourself some Gokiburi hoihoi and forget all the spray can cr@p.... http://blog.realestate-tokyo.com/archives/51335787.html

flatearther - well said!

In Tokyo I feel safe staggering home at 1am from the station... would I feel the same in London? Nope.... so that answers it all!

Stonecoldsoba - how do you know that? ;-) Anyway, Hakodate is a port city - no doubt some booze-fuelled FOREIGN sailors going on a rampage....

Interesting article. One other building I was sad to see had disappeared is the former Sofitel near Ueno: http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=hotelsofiteltokyo-tokyo-japan

Built in 1994 and demolished in 2007 --> another example of how "impotant" the environment seems to be in Japan - probably on a par with the US. Just imagine the waste.

It's good to see that this sort of fun advertising is still covered by the freedom of speech. A welcome blast of un-PCness for once, even though I do not fully agree with the comments. Of course the Citizens League had to start howling, but he, come on, he's hardly being a racist moron..let's not go over the top here.

Maybe she's starting to look like a "mummy"?

This has to be a joke right? "...while he was lying on the street"?? "as hit by a white van at around 4:30 a.m. while she chatting with friends by the road". It is still hit and run, but if I am lying on the street or chatting by the road at 4.30am then I might as well expect trouble.

all marketing! well, once you add taxes, fuel surcharges etc. the price will be double anyway!

These studies are useless, unless you insist on eating on your American or European import food. Fact is, after having lived in London, Tokyo is noticeably cheaper (think public transport)and certainly not the most expensive place. But let people believe it, so that we can get paid more for working here!

None, this is Japan, a still very safe country. The recent surge in knife incidents is deplorable, certainly for those involved, however, collective panic will not help either. Nowhere, except for Singapore perhaps, feels as safe as Japan. I mean how comfortable would you be walking around a lonely street in, say, London late at night? So let's keep things in perspective...

Whoever flies with them in Economy must be mad anyway.... never experienced such poor service as on Virgin. BA ist better and of course JAL or ANA are miles better. And during my flight back, when I asked if there might be an emergency exit for a tall person like me, I was told: Yes, if you pay extra for it we can give you one!" - course i refused and instead managed to move to a still free seat after takeoff.