Livvie comments

Funny, the last couple of groups of really lost looking tourists that I've approached and asked if they needed help, only to be looked upon with utter disgust and distain, and then subsequently ignored, were Europeans. Spaniards and Italians (not necessarily in that order) as I recall. I was surprised at their reaction but just shrugged my shoulders and walked away. I suppose they were thinking "How could YOU possibly help US, foreign girl!?!" Of course it make sense to ask the natives for help when in a foreign country, so I can kind of see why they refused my help. I find that American tourists visiting Tokyo are usually friendly and not afraid to ask a fellow non-Japanese person for help.

Mos Burger is the only healthy fast food, because it is a Japanese company.

Sorry Hustla, it may seem 'healthier' than McDonalds and the rest, but it's still fast food, Japanese company or not.

Did any one get the part of the article that says it comes with a small hamburger? Wha~? Mos Burger hamburgers are already on the small side. They managed to make them even smaller? This I gotta see.

Nada Surf would be worth seeing but none of the headliners do it for me. I don't really know what Ben Folds has done since the song "Closing Time"

I think you're confusing Ben Folds with the singer from SemiSonic. I don't know what happened to the latter, but Ben Folds has been continually releasing albums and performing live since he debuted.

I'd love to see Weezer, wouldn't mind seeing Ben Folds, and Ulfuls put on a really great live show, but other than those bands, none of these lineups are doing anything for me. I heard NIN would be appearing at Summer Sonic but there was no mention of them in this article. Did they back out?

Beyonce is lovely but I'm not sure why they chose her as headliner, especially since this year's lineup is mostly rock/alt bands.

The one thing I do love about hanami is that it's the only time of year when people commit random acts of kindness to people they don't know. Like giving their leftover food and drink to the people partying next to them when they leave.I wish people would keep that 'hanami spirit' all year round.

She looks cute! Fabulous dancer too. The shoes? Well, I wouldn't wear them but I see girls wear shoes like this here in Tokyo on a DAILY basis, some of them with baby carriage in tow. Have a look through the other pictures of the week and I'm sure variations of them will pop up here and there. She's just trying to blend in with the locals LOL.

They say that it was 'created exclusively for the Japanese market' but I have seen screen stills and read reviews for this awful thing, and the game play has been translated into English. Bad English but English nevertheless. It is very obvious that they were hoping to make some money overseas as well.

The argument can be made that video games don't make people commit crimes, and for the most part that is the truth. I am somewhat of a gamer myself, although I'm not really into playing the more violent titles. You can say it's something done in the privacy of home, so what a person watches or plays is their own business, but how many news stories have we seen in the past year or so of loners randomly stabbing people because they were 'stressed' or they just wanted to see what it was like to kill someone? Couldn't the same theory apply to this game?

She is so classy! I don't watch J-dramas or movies much, but I am always impressed by her poise and elegance whenever I see her on variety programs.

Other than the comments about making Japan more English-friendly for tourists, how about manner police or more help ambassadors to remind people of common courtesy?

I travel a lot for my job, usually have a decent sized bag or suitcase with me, so although I live here, people tend to think that I am a tourist. One big observation I've made in my travels is that people only think about themselves in public. I've lost count of how many times I've seen people open a door allowing just enough space for them to slide through and slam the door in the face of the person behind them. In high traffic areas no less! I think that's why this country has so many automatic doors!

Or how about having people stand in front of you in line while waiting for the train, or climbing over your suitcase so they can get a seat before you. Or even ignoring you as you're struggling to carry your stuff down a flight of stairs at the station because there's no elevator or escalator and no one will help you?

Once, at Nippori Station during the rush hour I saw this Japanese girl very obviously struggling with her suitcase. One of the wheels had broken and she was having a really hard time and there were SCORES of people walking around her, even looking annoyed that she was in the way. I went up to her and asked her in Japanese if she needed some help and she exclaimed 'PLEASE!'. Then everyone proceeded to stare at the two of us as we carried her case down the stairs!

I could go on and on but I will veer off topic.

“The total sales of mobile handsets has been declining. But we would like to satisfy our customers by providing a rich line-up of products,” said DoCoMo President Ryuji Yamada.

Sorry, that won't help. Lowering the price of the handsets will. Offering discounts to long time customers and frequent buyers will. These mobile companies were so afraid of losing money by offering unlimited price plans that they jacked up the price of their phones and locked everyone into two year plans. Even the simplest handset can cost you around 40,000 yen nowadays. I used to get a new phone every six months to a year. Now I'll be hanging on to my handsets until they fall apart. Thanks but no thanks.