Maria comments

One of the biggest mistakes I made was to get started with the nengajo. Nightmare. I only got out of it after a few years of bereavements during which I didn't send any, and after that I just carried on not sending.

Fewer tourists seen after suspension of Go To Travel for Tokyo, Nagoya

I should bloody well hope so. Wasn't that the point of suspending it?

Another man making it about himself again; plus some laughable ignorance.

Yes.

Ah, I see. He got death for killing one woman, but only 14 years for killing another woman, because...?

"woman" or "women"?

Yes. You need look no further than this website, which has taken a real downturn in recent months specifically, and since the introduction of votes generally.

Sounds like they are using pretty antiquated camera software if a city of that size can't find even "a trace" of her...

Or she didn't go far enough outside the house to reach a camera.

Ginkgo biloba extract is a blood thinner. Not to be taken with other blood thinners.

^ If you don't care about Japanese culture and news, what are you doing here? Begger off.

Congratulations and all happiness to them both. I hope they keep acting.

So that means she didn't go to school that day?

She was last seen leaving home for school at around 7:20 a.m. on Dec 1

Who saw her leave the house?

I wish her well. Poor woman. The life she had planned for was forced away from her.

An interesting read, and cool designs from a fine young man (aged 35 though it isn't mentioned in the article).

The All-Starrs gigs are great fun. I have been to two or three, and always had a blast - mostly because the musicians seem to.

No wonder so many parents choose to keep their children at home, despite the struggle caring for them as the children grow to adulthood and the parents age. Relinquishing your child to an institution like those described here must be an awful prospect.

Burning Bush - do please describe the process of Female Genital Mutilation, and explain how it is the same as an adult transgender person opting for paid surgery?

I watched the final episode of S4 last night, and was disappointed that the writers stirred the pot of the silly conspiracy theory that Philip arranged Diana's murder.

The media - ie the press and programs like this - are just as responsible, if not more so, for the nastiness around the royal family as the meddling royals and politicos have been.

Only a few lessons with private students during the state of emergency and afterwards, so less than 100,000 yen over six months which, in the grand scheme of things, isn't so bad. I've been lucky.

I found the scene where Prince Andrew talks about Koo Stark to be an obvious dig at his present 'situation'. He describes, lasciviously, her "blue" movie, in which a 17-year-old schoolgirl is chased by a whole lot of dirty old men.

They are quite right to stop at five seasons - any more is a lawsuit waiting to happen. I'm surprised they've got away with as much as they have so far.

Well done to these 99 women and the billions more represented by the 100th 'Unsung hero', struggling against oft-ridiculous outside pressures, sexism, violence, and negativity from those who have no idea what it's like to live in a world where the default in almost everything is for men.

As soon as I read the headline I chuckled with the memory of the supermarket scene in Tampopo. :)

Still, that's a huge loss for the store and farmers, and in this time of the need for scrupulous hygiene, malicious.

Is that because they haven't had nine months to think about this situation and prepare for it?

Koreeda is a brilliant film-maker.

The tapioca tea fad is one I loathe, due to the massive amount of plastic wastage, including those sodding straws, which people leave and drop instead of disposing of correctly.

There is nothing to suggest the girl was home alone. This man knew the layout of the flat, so knew where her bedroom was. Making sure she couldn't make a noise while he raped her is something he will have planned for.

Bastard. Sadly whatever sentence he gets won't be long enough.

People who look for victim-blaming reasons why someone attacked a woman.

People who try to minimise violence against women by saying You can be kicked but not hurt.

People who use Whataboutery to turn the attention away from the actual victims and onto imaginary ones with bs like "If a woman did such-and-such nobody would care..."

These people are why violence against women is still being ignored, excused, and under-reported.

And these people are part of the problem.

"Don't read when you're eating", I was told as a child.

Not because it's unhealthy, I figured out much later, but because it's rude.

True, when at a social dining table, it is rude.

When at a table by myself, or where everyone is using their mealtime to unwind and have some quiet time, I'll read, use the internet, watch TV, or stare into the middle distance, or whatever the heck I want. :)

Companies who claim they need to know the gender in order to encourage gender equality are being disingenuous. Continuing to ask for photos and gender will not benefit women at all.

I mean, has it so far? No.

He hasn't been masking even after getting the virus and nearly dying once already.

It's a sad story.