kwbrow2 comments

I don't know if Ando lets the father spend time with their daughter. I don't know if there has been communication of any kind between the father and the daughter. Perhaps the father wants no part of his daughters life. Perhaps he'd like to see his daughter and spend time with her. We just don't know. Maybe Ando is refusing to let the father be part of their daughters life. This would be the traditional way to handle the situation in Japan. When relationships go sours one parent disappears. Sorry, I can't give Ando a "parent award" unless I know more about the father and the reason he is not a part of his daughters life.

I hope the boy has a loving aunt, uncle, or grandma that can treat him with love, kindness, and respect.

RIP kids.

Many orphanages in Japan accept newborn babies. I wish more people knew this. Then maybe these babies and their mother might have a fighting chance.

I certainly don't condone what this man did but if you have had your son or daughter taken away from you, if you have hired lawyers to fight for you, if you have contacted politicians and reporters, and none of it helps. It is easier to understand how a desperate parent might lose control. Living in pain with severe burns for the rest of your life might be worse than death.

RIP, poor little boy who never had a chance.

RIP

Slow moving storms can bring lots of rain and cause flooding. People should be more worried about flooding than strong winds.

Japan has orphanages in every prefecture and many of the orphanages take newborns. Most people don't know this. As one person said, more advertisement/education is needed to let mothers know about their options after birth.

Over the 27-year period between 1983 and 2009, 108 students aged 12 to 17 died as a result of judo accidents in Japanese schools, an average of four a year,” Uchida said. Not even close to the worst thing that has happened to Japanese sports. These coaches need to do jail time for their crimes.

How about the Ministry of Education use one of their may lawyers to create and pass a bullying law. A law with teeth that has consequences for bullying.

Another sad day for Japanese society or lack there of. I guess on some level she wanted to be caught. Surely, she knew someone, sooner or later, would find the baby and come knocking on her door. RIP little one.

Bullying is not that hard of a problem to deal with. A few minor changes in the way things are done at school will make a big difference. Now kids have 10 minutes of free time between classes. This is too much time. They one need 2 minutes to get to there next class. The other 8 minutes are wasted time. Kids goof off, punch their friends and sometimes their enemies. Teachers need to be in the hallways and classrooms to prevent kids from misbehaving. Deterrence is the key. If there is a chance of getting caught kids won't do it. There has to be punishment for bullies. Expulsion, Suspension, & detentions. If you coach a sport you need to supervise the kids. Unsupervised kids are a recipe for disaster. These are things teachers in the US have been doing to reduce the number of problems that happen between classes. Kids know there are consequences if they get caught and it is a deterrence for most of them. But bullies are patient. They can wait for the opportunity when a teacher is not around. You can never stop bullying completely but there are many things schools can do to cut down on bullying. I hope Japan makes the changes to reduce the number of bullying cases.

If Japan had a joint custody system that allowed both parents and grandparents access to children after divorce I think less of this would happen. If Japanese courts required a parenting plan before divorce took place I think fewer parents would take their children's lives. Change can be a good thing. I hope the government take appropriate action soon.

he passed hundreds of drug tests during his career and followed the rules in place at the time of his Tour de France victories. I don't see how it fair to take anything away from lance if he played by the rules!

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/26/us-climate-germany-solar-idUSBRE84P0FI20120526

The above link talks about "German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity per hour - equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity - through the midday hours on Friday and Saturday, the head of a renewable energy think tank said." "The German government decided to abandon nuclear power after the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year, closing eight plants immediately and shutting down the remaining nine by 2022. "................................ Japan has only used one nuclear power plant this summer. It is obvious that most nuclear power plants are not needed. Japan could build and start using solar and geothermal power in less than 5 years if they could make decisions as quick as Germany did.

As Maria said this is a step in the right direction. Raising awareness, reporting the incidents, and going to the press when the school won't take appropriate action are all steps forward. Citizens need to complain more. How does the saying go "the only thing needed for evil to succeed it that good people do nothing." Of course the next step is to have schools implement a zero tolerance policy on bullying. Expulsion should be mandatory. Students should be encouraged to report bullies and teachers need to do a better job in regards to preventing bullying.

It is plausible to assume a strong earthquake would damage the seawall and leave the power plant at risk. 100 billion yen is a lot of money to spend on something that might not work. And more likely will never be needed. The more logical and much safer choice is to invest in alternative power. Anyone read about Germany setting a world record for generating the most solar power in a day. 22GW of power. That is more than 20 nuclear power plants running at full capacity. Article can be found at the following link. http://www.rt.com/news/solar-energy-record-break-332/ It is time to go green. Geothermal power is also another great choice for Japan. It seems clear that a large percentage of Japanese people are against nuclear power. The demos in Tokyo keep getting bigger. Listen to your people PM Noda.

There are some points that I think are relevant. One, the anti nuclear demo is not making headlines in the Japanese papers. Maybe it will now. Two, hatoyama's presence may encourage others to participate. three, there are alternative power sources in Japan such as geothermal power that could be used instead of nuclear power. Four, Hatoyama's presence may be a political ploy but he could be sincere. I prefer to be an optimist.

@YuriOtani, it is not the kids choice. Kids can't choose anything until they become 18 in the US. Until that point we (adults/parents) have to make choices for them. If your 8 year did not want to go to school would you let him. If your 12 year old wanted to drink and smoke, would you let him? I hope not. We adults/parents have to make choices for our kids and we have to watch out for their best interests. We run into problems when one parent makes unilateral decisions that are bad for the child but OK for one parent. A good parent would not prevent the other parent from seeing their child. A good parent (even if divorced) should encourage their child to see and spend time with the other parent. A bad parent would discourage the child from contacting the other parent. A bad parent would often make up stories that influence how the child behaves around the other parent. In this case Dr. Garcia is the better parent. Inoue has made choices that were bad for Karina but good for herself. Even after being let out of jail, she has continued to violate court orders. So yes bad things are probably going to happen to her now. Yuri, you don't seem to have all of the facts on this case or you are just conveniently ignoring them. It is not a matter of US law vs. Japanese law. It is a matter of treating people with respect. Do unto others as you would like done unto yourself. Let's not turn this into a cultural issue or Japan vs. America issue. It is about how everyone (all over the world) should treat children. Dr. Garcia has the right idea!!!!!!!!!

If you have been in Japan long enough you have seen houses located just centimeters from busy streets. If you trip coming out of your house you will literally fall onto the road. There is no room for a sidewalk in many places. Others are correct. More emphasis needs to be put on safety. Driving safety, child safety, road safety, and safety from abusive parents all need to be addressed.

If this boy is actually 2 months old he should not be able to crawl yet. How can he fall into the river? He was either placed in the river or they have the age wrong in this story. More info is needed as usual.

Only buy from Costco or another import food store that you trust. As Tmarie alluded to this probably happens more than you think.

Could it be big fish little pond syndrome? I know a guy who was number one at his Junior High School but when he got to High School is grades were terrible in comparison to his new top notch classmates. He could not handle the pressure/competition. He ended up in the hospital with mental problems and dropped out of school. Going from best to worst can take its toll. I have no idea if this is the case but it is another scenario.

OK, I have to say something. I can understand hitting someone in a moment of anger. But locking a 4 year old outside for an extended period of time without clothes is premeditated torture.

So many things I want to say about this situation, mostly bad. But I will only say, I hope the boy gets the love and attention all kids deserve.

American never should have gone into Iraq or Afghanistan. It tarnishes the image of America and creates bad publicity for America and American's when crap like this happens. America needs to stay out of other peoples business. To much money (tax payer money) has been put into this so called war. Is there any benefit in the future?

Japan is not party to any international liability convention but its law generally conforms to them. Two laws governing them are revised about every ten years: the Law on Compensation for Nuclear Damage and Law on Contract for Liability Insurance for Nuclear Damage.

Plant operator liability is exclusive and absolute, and power plant operators must provide a financial security amount of JPY 120 billion (US$ 1.4 billion) - half that to 2010. The government may relieve the operator of liability if it determines that damage results from “a grave natural disaster of an exceptional character”, and in any case liability is unlimited.

For the Fukushima accident in 2011 the government set up a new state-backed institution to expedite payments to those affected. The body is to receive financial contributions from electric power companies with nuclear power plants in Japan, and from the government through special bonds that can be cashed whenever necessary. The government bonds total JPY 5 trillion ($62 billion). The new institution will include representatives from other nuclear generators and will also operate as an insurer for the industry, being responsible to have plans in place for any future nuclear accidents. The provision for contributions from other nuclear operators is similar to that in the USA. The government estimates that Tepco will be able to complete its repayments in 10 to 13 years, after which it will revert to a fully private company with no government involvement. Meanwhile it will pay an annual fee for the government support, maintain adequate power supplies and ensure plant safety.

While I find TEPCO reprehensible. I find the courts in Japan more reprehensible. In the end the government will decide compensation. Courts are a waste of time and money in Japan.

In general I think divorced women with children are more easily accepted in western cultures. In the west, more people get divorced. Kids seem to be more important. Biological fathers are more involved with their children. Abuse is easier to spot. Teachers, friends, & family are more likely to notice abuse and are more likely to report it in western countries. The whole attitude toward children and their well being is better in the west. Japan exists in stark contrast to the west. Divorced Japanese women have a much harder time finding a good guy. Japanese men are not as willing as western men to raise someone else's children. Japanese men in comparison to western men don't really put much effort into childrearing. My brother for example takes his step kids to dance lessons. He plays basketball after work with his step son. He takes his step kids camping and fishing. I don't think Japanese men have the time nor inclination to do these things with their kids let alone their step kids. Work comes first in Japan. And most Japanese men are workaholics. Until there is a cultural change in Japan child abuse (as in this story) will continue. Unfortunately, I don't see a cultural change happening in Japan this decade. ):

@ebisen. With age comes experience and wisdom. Most of the cases we read about on Japan Today are about single mothers. Many times they have crappy boyfriends. Many times they are younger. Many times they are poorly educated. Rarely do they live with or have the support of their parents. I find this story to be atypical. Her life sounds much better than the typical stories I read, related to mom's killing their kids.