lonebeagle comments

Interesting, I always heard that that Japanese discriminated against the Koreans living in Japan. Our family knew a beautiful girl from Japan who was Korean and moved to America--as a kid I always wondered why? My parents later told me that no one in Japan would marry a Korean girl no matter how beautiful she was.

Well I guess it's still an ugly topic. So much for diversity in Japan. In L.A. the Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodians, CHINESE, Taiwanese, Filipinos, Indians, and the rest of the Asian immigrants from Asia get along just fine amongst themselves as well as with everyone else here (whites, blacks, Mexicans, etc etc).

Now why is this such a difficult thing for the Japanese?

Mirai Hayashi: Elderly, they're a "liability"? You mean that?

Well, that does speak volumes in unspeakable ways. I guess you'll find this probably only in Japan, again...

Where did you learn your history, wikipedia? America dominating the globe?

At the end of WW II, the only thing Americans wanted to do was GO HOME. I know that's what my dad wanted to do, he fought in the war and came home on a hospital ship.

As for the Communists in China and the Soviet Union, Americans didn't want to make the same mistake with them that the French and British made with Hitler. But that's another topic [right moderator?].

As for Japan, MacArthur knew that the Emperor was about the only person who could keep the almost insane Japanese from going berserk in the post-war period. At least that's my understanding from what I've read. And it makes sense. The Japanese people have never been a very rational bunch, and after the end of the war, there were too many irrational factions going at eachother's throats.

The Emperor and MacArthur made for a good partnership in a difficult period. Neither should be harangued here especially by youth who have never lived through a tough day.

Keeping the Emperor alive would have served "American" interests? As if post-war Japan had anything of interest to America? The place was just about worthless, I think that there are some people who a revising history here and implying that Japan had some value after the war.

It was a bombed out hulk.

Keeping the Emperor alive was a practical move, or something. MacArthur was a smart guy who shouldn't be dragged through the dirt by a bunch of people who weren't around at the time. The American military suffered a great deal to win the war and this doesn't seem to be very apparent to the folks commenting here at Japan Today.

I do know that every single person from Japan born post WW II that I've met in the States knows virtually nothing about The War. This is unfortunate since it is almost certain that the world in which the Japanese live today wouldn't exist if it weren't for the Americans winning the War.

Accidents happen, except in Japan. Kids ride bikes and occassionally hit things, except in Japan. If this kid were truly this criminally negligent, then he should have spent time in reform school.

Million dollar fines like this don't even happen in the USA.

Japan looks more like the coldest, harshest and most unforgiving country in the developed world. More reasons to not visit the place. Imagine what would happen if a visitor were to clip an old lady accidentally while driving a shopping cart at the supermarket! TWENTY YEARS in the slammer and headline NEWS!

More Onion stories. No, this story is even too ridiculous for The Onion. The arguments FOR this stupid fine are even more insane than the court's.

The Japanese STILL haven't figured out the meaning of American bombing raids....

As in "It would be best to surrender now". Look, after two atom bombs the Japanese still didn't want to surrender. And after all of these years, people still describe the Doolittle raid as "meaningless".

The Doolittle raid proved that the USA could strike Japan EVEN with B-25s from an AIRCRAFT carrier! The USA was already working on the B-29 at the time and it was only a matter of time before the mighty Superfortress would be pounding Japan with impunity.

BUT, the arrogant Japanese didn't believe that Americans could prevail in a long war across the Pacific. And today they can't even make a show of force for an uninhabited rock in the middle of nowhere.

Pathetic....

It's not called a "shell", it's an Unexploded Bomb or UXO/UXB. If it's really a 2000 pound bomb from a B-29, if it goes BOOM! it will destroy everything within a wide area. They better put a lot of sandbags on top of it! Maybe they can put a live video link, this could be interesting....

BTW, who else would have dropped a 2000 pound bomb on Tokyo except the USA?

Let's just say then that Japan is leading the way to oblivion amongst developed nations. Nations that fail to reproduce shall disappear, simple. Northern Europe has had a ticking time bomb for decades and their citizens have been oblivious to the obvious.

Lounging around enjoying life while not doing the mandatory things will lead to a miserable future as in NO ONE TO TAKE OF ALL OF THE OLD FOLKS!

Unfortunately for the Japanese and Northern Europeans, no one seems to like having children or acting like adults--it's too much work.

Another "Only in Japan story". Or another story from The Onion--this is really incredible. It should be rather obvious why people marry. Finding a mate and having children is the one of the basic things of life. No need for discussion unless you live in Japan apparently.

I guess the Japanese are becoming a dysfunctional society in just about every conceivable way--they can't date, find marriage partners, have kids, make functional homes, happy homes, normal successful lives, etc.

Life in Japan appears to be a sham or fake or something. Quite amazing and disturbing. Not a place one would want to live or visit. These news stories just get more unbelievable.....

I think they might have a better way of ensuring employees make their sales targets.... it's an idea called "commissions," I know it's kind of hard to understand, but it works like this: Those salespeople that sell more, GET PAID MORE. Those salespeople that sell less? They make less. See, this way, employees will find their own reasons to become motivated. NO BUNNY EARS REQUIRED!>

Exactly. Good grief, Japanese companies look like idiots when you read things like this. It's almost like news from The Onion--in fact half of the news here IS news from The Onion.

Hasn't any one here read "Nineteen Eight-Four"? George Orwell in his worst nightmare couldn't imagine what the USA is doing today because nobody in the nineteen forties could predict the digital technology of the 21st century. So now the US Government is spying on everyone, everywhere. They can spy on everyone in the USA and when the story first broke, the rest of the world didn't seem to care.

Now that the Europeans and Japanese have figured out that the Americans can spy on just them, well now it's a problem! The Chinese are pikers when it comes to this kind of thing--unfortunately for freedom and the world, the Americans are leading the way to the future and it doesn't look good.

Just look at how things are going right now since Snowden revealed the NSA's secrets. How's all of that Hope and Change working out?

http://www.japancrush.com/2013/stories/assemblymans-blog-rant-against-hospital-amuses-netizens.html

Patients waiting to pay their bills are given numbers, and called over the counter as is.He felt so important that he wanted to be addressed as YOUR MAJESTY with full name and with accolades. Serves him right. Japan assembly is much better without such prima donna.

Well, isn't that just special. I guess the solution for nasty people in Japan is SUICIDE! This explains the ultra high rate of suicide in Japan--it's obvious from the comments here that Japan is a country which runs on coercion and extracts cooperation and compliance at all costs.

I read a translation of Koizumi's blog and it's even more shocking that people here are attempting to justify his suicide as being okay as if he deserved to die because he didn't have sufficient reasons for complaining. The fact that Koizumi was attacked so viciously by his community is shocking and disturbing in itself.

No matter how trivial his complaints were, the reaction of his community rose to such a level that you have to question the sanity of people. What kind of people make up Japanese society? And now that he is dead, people are still criticizing and taking pot shots at the guy! HE'S DEAD for crying out loud!

Sick is all I can say. There's no other way to describe this entire spectacle. It makes one question whether Japanese culture lacks basic human values. The Japanese put on a great show of compassion and respect, but in many ways it's just superficial.

Oh knock it off--you're making excuses for why the millionth person who killed themself was themself responsible for their own death. It seems this is another Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in Japan's Bullying Procedure Manual.

The Standard Practice in Japan is that people commit suicide at a horrendous rate because suicide has no negative social stigma as it does in the west. Bullying children and adults alike is allowed because bullying has no negative social stigma. In fact, it is part of normal Japanese behaviour and culture.

I don't buy it for a nanosecond that Mr. Koizumi didn't have some legitimate complaints about the way he was treated by his local hospital. You're defending the STANDARD PROCEDURE as if it can't be flawed, out of date, or not friendly to the patient. Have you or anyone else in Japan considered that maybe the Japanese should catch up with America and the west and CHANGE? Oh, that's right, the Japanese don't like change.

But just the tone of your post (blaming the suicide victim) is cruel and vindictive and proves my point about many in Japanese society.

And, of course, skipping out on paying one's bill because you're pissed off means that you need to go off and commit suicide. Talk about a sick society. That Japan has no methods of dealing with minor conflict resolution is just beyond words. That you're not in shock by your own words is just beyond belief.

Civilized people don't write off people killing themselves as if they just witnessed an ant getting squished. But in Japan, I guess a dead politician who had the "audacity" to complain and skip out on a bill is no more than a dead cockroach.

Oh cry me river. His "rants" on his blog deserves criticism. He had the audacity to criticize the hospital for calling the ticketed number during his account settlement not to mention the fact that he skipped the payment of his charges.

I think the story here is simple, Japan is a place where simple bullying is everywhere. You see it here on this message forum and you see it in schools and in society.

It's disturbing and pathetic to see this kind of behaviour. FYI, in America in any healthcare facility it is NEVER permitted to call a patient by anything but their name and it is never permitted to refer to a person by their medical record number.

But this isn't the disturbing part of this story--the reaction to Mr. Koizumi's blog by the community and his death here is just disgusting. No wonder Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. There is a shocking lack of respect for life, freedom and the individual in Japan.

Suicide and bullying are a national disgrace in Japan and the government has been trying to combat these problems for years, but the culture of Japan makes it impossible to effectively challenge or reduce the devastating effects on society. Just read some of the comments here and the blog posts for Mr. Koizumi. It's quite socially acceptable to openly bully over virtually anything and even taunt someon who has committed suicide.

In Japan it seems that you can't have a different opinion and have an argument and at the end of the day agree to disagree, and then call it quits and still be friends or neighbors. The Japanese pay a horrendous price for their "civilized" society.

I'm a sansei who has never visited Japan--never had the time or money. Now I have plenty of both. After following the news here and elsewhere of Japan post 3-11, I don't think I EVER want to visit the place. I have to say that Japan seems in many ways to be one of the most difficult and complex societies in the world with impossible rules that drive both natives and outsiders crazy.

Japanese society is both cruel and unforgiving, and it does not tolerate any deviations--bullying and just plain mean people seem to be the norm. To an American it just seems so over the top and unreasonable. I tell you, it sure doesn't do Japan's image any good and it's the primary reason why I don't want to visit. And I'm Japanese American! And I know and work with people from Japan in Los Angeles!

What kind of miserable people live in Japan? I can't remember anything like this happening here in America. People bitch and complain about things like this all the time! And I work at a hospital! It's a common complaint that patients have about being treated like a "non-person"! In fact there was a movie made about this very topic starring Harrison Ford years ago!

The picture of Japan you see on NHK must be propaganda produced by the government propaganda ministry. This is one very disturbing story on so many levels.

I know that American pilots, soldiers, sailors and Marines celebrated like this when the Air Force shot down and killed Admiral Yamamoto in 1943. And although I wasn't there, I'm sure that lots of Americans celebrated his death by dancing around.

They weren't in need of psychiatric evaluation and they weren't blood thirty barbarians. I AM SINCERELY HAPPY THAT NAVY SEALS SHOT HIM IN THE HEAD! I bet that most of America is deeply relieved and happy that our guys got bin Laden.

One day some of you may grow up and realize that death is part of life--war is part of peace and someone has to do the unpleasant work in order for the rest of us to live in freedom.

America was minding its own business when bin Laden decided to start a cowardly terrorist war against her. He started the war--we're defending ourselves and the rest of the free world.

Remember, Japan started the war with America on December 7th. Americans were quite justified to dance in the streets when Japan surrendered. That party then makes last night look tame. My mom was there in New York. My dad was in a military hospital having returned to the USA from France on a hospital ship. He wasn't dancing but I'm sure he was mighty pleased.

How did the war end in 1945? America dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Now that was barbaric but the American people still danced in the streets.

Celebrating victory isn't barbaric. What is barbaric are the ones who start wars.

I am kind of sad seeing this. They look like barbarians.

Barbarians? You obviously don't know anything about history. Did Americans act like "barbarians" when we conquered Japan? How did the Japanese react when they marched into town?

What about the Germans? Or the French? What about the Russians?

America doesn't even register on the scale when compared to everyone else.

The biggest barbarians in the world today are represented by bin Laden.

The free world has gone soft between the ears--the post WW II generations of Europe and Japan believe that "peace" is the natural state of the world. All you have to do is sing "Imagine" and we'll all live in harmony.

What a bunch naive dummies.

We didn't MURDER bin Hiden--we KILLED him. He was an enemy of America. You can't murder a person who has waged war against a nation.

I hope Americans dance in the street for this entire week. It should be a reminder to everyone else in the world who wishes to destroy the modern Western world.

Typical US arrogance! Enjoy your fries.

Oh, I must have missed the Europeans and Japanese sending their young men to defend democracy and freedom! Just like heroic NATO which has defended Western Democracy in the post-WWII world.

Or the Japanese people hiding behind the skirts of the American fleet and Air Force.

Just exactly who IS standing up for freedom in the world right now? China? Germany? France? Russia?

Americans aren't bragging or being cocky--we've already lost over 4000 soldiers in this present war and spent billions of dollars. Freedom is expensive. Except if you're from somewhere other than America.

Moderator: Back on topic please.

GW Bush said the USA wanted bin Laden "dead or alive"--it's great that it was DEAD!

Who gives a hoot what the Muslim world thinks as America celebrates. Americans celebrated V.E. and V.J. day in the same way. World War II makes this current war look like a traffic stop in comparison. Americans will always defend our economic and national interests.

Europe and Japan aren't willing to defend freedom. Congratulations Navy SEALS!!!!

Very good and informative article. I've never been to Japan--I'm a sansei Japanese American who was born and raised in Los Angeles. However, I see the similarity between the Japanese and my parents and grandparents. Even though my parents were as American as apple pie and didn't even speak much Japanese, they embodied "hakanasa" in how they lived their lives and treated others.

Life was tough for them--my dad fought in WW II in the 442nd where he lost many of his friends. My mom struggled through the internment camps and endured personal tragedies. Yet they still appreciated life and celebrated the small things. They respected others and never forgot their obligations and reminded us kids to "do your best". I always believed that my parents and Japanese people in general were quite spiritual, but, of course, they never would speak about those feelings to others.

Life was hard but there was still beauty to enjoy. We could all learn something from the Japanese people. So I hope that the Japanese will hold their hanami parties since life goes on and it's always better to face great tragedy and adversity when you're with family, friends and your community.