LiveInTokyo comments

I'm very glad Rudd is gone. He seemed to be a man with an eloquent way of speaking, but not much else. On a personal level I prefer Tony Abbott, but only time will tell if he is the man for the job. But on a very negative note, how could Clive Palmer get in? Chinese spies ... Titanic 2 ... He'll be the loose cannon in Australian politics to keep an eye on. I think they just voted him in out of desperation.

The reports might be correct as he claims .... however, they could well be true. So should we believe these news stories that have at least been investigated by some journalists or should we just accept the esteemed governor's beliefs that are just based on his thoughts?

And the food was checked before it was brought to Tokyo? That's great, but there have also been quite a few incidents of supermarkets relabelling where it was from. There is a chance the media might be wrong, but I'll side with them and prudence rather than trust the silly words of a man who will say anything to make his personal dreams come true.

Nice to see how our taxes are supporting these folks, I guess.

You are also allowed to jump rope @gaihonjin.

Yes, it is more human and natural. But then, this is Japan, where acting human and natural in public can get you in big, big trouble.

I think you're right JeffLee. Actually even though it is said that Japanese society pursues social harmony I think it really doesn't operate like that. It's more like everyone is encouraged or required to persevere with and bear their current situations. It's how everyone is kept in their social position. If you try to break out of your position society will punish you for it, due to the social order being disrupted. So the Koreans in places like Shin-Okubo, who already seen as on the fringe of Japanese society, if they retaliate will become seen as transgressors in this situation.

Hardly anything at all in that article about child-rearing techniques. Rocket News strikes again.

Aussies can be childish when drinking sometimes and pranks like this can be dangerous

So can people from any other country.

How many times has TEPCO and the government not exactly told us the truth? They think if they keep repeating the same story over and over again, everyone will eventually believe them and therefore the problem will go away.

I feel really sorry for these guys, but why give up? Move to another place and start again. I know it's not their fault, they had absolutely zero to do with the problem, but just simply giving up? I find that really defeatist. I bet if they looked really hard they would that many people in the world have it even worse than they do. Look at all the single mothers in Japan doing it tough. So much for the, "Samurai spirt" ...

They fixed it with gum and tape - they did a MacGyver!!

Masterdunce is more like it. Glad the mother saw straight through it, or at least was smart enough to call the police. And I just realised it was in Inagi ... where I work!!!

I'm not a big fan of marriage, however, I think services that encourage people to cheat and lie to their spouses isn't good for society.

He can insist all he wants, and I'm sure the whole event was caught on security cameras ...

I'm guessing the respondents were your typical, been-living-in-Japan-for-a-year, wet-behind-the-ears newbies to Japan, still dazzled by the 'culture' etc....

I'm in complete agreement with you here bilderberg_2015.

Good news for everyone in the long run I think.

Not saying that violence is always the answer, but reading this article, it states that no weapon was used by the teenagers

Ask anyone who has suffered through this kind of incident. They really are traumatic. The threat of violence, not knowing what is going to happen, will they be killed, will they be harassed by the perpetrators at some later date? A lot goes through the victim's mind. Just to say it's not so bad as no weapon was used is really making light of the whole situation.

I think twitter and facebook is doing a lot to smash the whole myth of how well behaved staff here are. About time. Tip of the iceburg and just goes to show that staff here behaves like staff all over the world. Nothing surprising nor shocking about any of this.

You're exactly right tmarie. Actually there was a TV show on last night I think it was showing numerous other incidents in Japan. People sleeping on heaps of bread rolls using them as a mattress, sleeping in refrigerators etc. It was all pretty horrendous. And like you I'm sure that for every pic that was shown publicly there would be a lot more they are kept safely locked away on phones and camera. Just the tip of the iceberg.

Who knows how she ended up in his car? Unfortunately the story doesnt give that information. However, it would appear that she was held in his apartment against her will. She probably waited until he was out of the room, went to the toilet or something similar then she used to her phone to get help (still cant understand why that took 24 hours though). Just my guess. But there are still a few holes in the story that will hopefully get filled in one day.

...how Japanese people followed traffic laws so faithfully

What a load of nonsense. Every day I see people here j-walk, ride motorcycles without helmets or smoking while riding. How many times have we seen articles here on Japan Today about dreadful traffic accidents. Didn't we just see a several stories about people with epilepsy driving and then having a fit and end up killing people? People drink driving and killing people? The list goes on and on. It's a news piece that is just stereotyping without any factual evidence.

I can just imagine it now, Mr. Abe is trying to increase the effectiveness of the Japanese military and they are going to be armed with parasols? I`ll have mine as long as it is in cammo ...

I think more people could understand the court's ruling if this were the Japan of 50 years ago, when people had much more close-knit families and looked after each other. But the Japan of 2013 is not the same as the Japan of 1960 (or even earlier times). Culturally, Japan has changed and will never return to what it was. The laws concerning situations such as this , are out of date and need to be revised.

And it is amazing that the costs and damages will fall on the widow. Obviously I don't know her financial circumstances but if she is one of the "average" people in this country, I imagine she will place under considerable stress herself to pay them.

The law might have been observed in this case, but fairness and compassion most definitely have not.

Imagine what might have happened if she had a really dangerous implement in her handbag.

But the laugh was on her ... why? After macing those people she ran to the platform and jumped on a train and I`m guessing she took it home. So in the end ... she never got to use that toilet.

Amazing how they can say they are shocked. Arent they basically admitting that they havent had a clue to what`s been happening in their own schools for many, many years then?

I think the main problem is parenting in this country. Parents seem to want to step in at any time they feel their child is threatened, which isnt a bad thing itself, but when it is almost every situation in including the mundane the kids grow up thinking they are special. How many times have I heard in this country, "We kids so its ok"? It`s leads to a great sense of self-entitlement.

The problems need to be tackled at home first starting with the parents who need to make their kids into responsible young adults first by leading through example. Anyway, it is an enormous problem for Japan on so many different levels and bound to get worse before it gets better.

Me too. My phone started screeching. It was the first time I had ever heard the sound (my other phone didn`t do that in 2011) and it scared the heck out of me. Looked at the screen and saw the message and was very worried. Rang my wife, no answer. Tried to get information from the internet, but got nothing. For a little while I had no idea what to do. Very glad it turned out to be a false alarm.

Kuriyama wasn't actually there. She had prior commitments so she sent a message which was read out. Plus whatever, 'muse', means I don't think anyone had a clue. Probably an ambasssador-type role to which Atsuko Maeda played last year.

No big foreign stars seem to be coming either, so it will be very much lacking in the international sense. On the bright side though, animation will be getting a bigger role at the festival which I think might be a great idea considering its ties to Japan.

Ignorant smokers drop butts outside my house all the time (Amagasaki). Why don’t they put the butt in their pocket? - oh no, that would be dirty. Take heed smokers! Social etiquette my arms.

I live in Takaido, Suginami ward and it's similar. Suginami is supposed to cigarette free, smoking on the street is forbidden - it's plastered all over the sidewalk, "No smoking". Does anyone care? Absolutely not, smokers still light up and throw away the butts anywhere they please. Personally I don't see much difference in the "etiquette" of people in my own country and in Japan, it's pretty similar. The only difference is this continuous repetition of the dogma that Japanese have better etiquette than everyone else.

Yes, well, quite frankly I don't believe this for a minute, and here's why: A friend of mine, Japanese for that matter, walked up to a man who did the same thing and said "There is a garbage bin just over there. Please throw it out properly", to which he got punched in the face. I moved over to step in and the guy ran off. Instead of the station attendant going after him or calling the police, he just came over an bowed to us, apologizing, and when he saw the cigarette butt picked it up himself -- we can't disturb the assaulter's wa, after all.

I often wonder whether these stories are made or just embellished to make it sound better. And they always seem to be about the ignorant "foreigner". Very rarely do we see Rocket News write about Japanese this way. I`ve actually been in trains where there (Japanese) kids smoking and just stamping them out on the floor. Not to mention people hiding behind drink machines at station out of public view have a smoke. My wife, who is Japanese, every week tells me stories about the Keio-Inokashira line involving fights and other crazy stuff that she sees.

... but given the number of people in the mean time you see obeying them perfectly

Tamarama, you are definitely looking at Japanese society through rose-coloured glasses.

Did he sterilize the roll of tape before picking up with his hands and plastering her with it?

I talked my boss into allowing the males in the company to wear shorts during the summer months, as the women were always allowed to wear what they liked. Since we've been in shorts, summer is a real pleasure to work in. I love winter to be honest, but I guess that was always as I had to wear slacks and a tie during the summer months, due to company rules. Since getting rid of that tie and those slacks ... absolutely nothing to complain about.

Very difficult story to believe really. What is wrong with these kids? As others have already mentioned, they could swallow their pride and ask a friend for a loan of a suit. Not sure about other Japanese cities, but Tokyo has an insane amount of really great second stores in Shimo-Kitazawa, Koenji etc, where good suits could surely be picked up for a steal. And if things are really that bad wouldn`t it be better to turn up in a worn suit than not go at all?

I think the real source of the problem here is a sense of entitlement combined with laziness AND a lack of resourcefulness.

Glad I saw this article or I might have been stuck over the weekend.