Mark_McCracken comments

“In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.” 17 U.S.C. §102(b).

A large boat broke loose and ran into the bridge that connects Kansai airport (KIX) to the mainland. Doing significant structural damage as I write this.

Nice photo.

Kintetsu line in Kansai now has conductors carry and plug in an ipad-type device that has different announcements in different languages. The conductor is free to select a short or long message before each stop in multiple languages. I have seen them vary the messages based on the presumed makeup of passengers. Adding emergency announcements in multiple languages would be relatively inexpensive.

Two decades in Japan made me overly complacent. I took a vacation to Italy and drastically increased my awareness of people in public places. I kept it up after I got back to Japan. It is amazing, really - entire train cars and platforms where nearly everyone staring at their phones, oblivious to the rest of the world.

The Herbis Plaza Ent Building houses the 1200-seat Osaka Shiki Theatre on the 7th floor. I'm guessing this sign directs performers to a special entrance so they can take an elevator directly to the backstage area.

One of the links above has the answer.

“We mix pork and soybeans together with a vegetable extract, and then freeze dry the pieces,” the forthcoming Nissin employee elaborated.

This seems to be going after the same market segment that the Neo2 by Alphasmart targeted. But King Jim's product is foolishly overpriced.

I tried the smaller size Peyoung instant yakisoba. Not recommended. I like real yakisoba, but my stomach was not happy at all with the Peyoung instant stuff.

@sangetsu03

Despite the lack of maternity leave in America, the birthrate is still high

The birth rate in the US is at a 30-year low.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-us-birth-rate-30-year-low-20180516-story.html

Valid concern. But historically the low temperatures on those days are 23 degrees. Civil twilight starts around 4.20 am. Beginning the marathons at first light would help significantly.

They do not look particularly happy to be there.

Dangerous to drivers as well as themselves.

the ring, which is ritually purified before matches with salt and Japanese sake.

...and then the bulls poop on it.

I thought this was an old picture. It is not. Here is the one from 2017.

https://nypost.com/2017/02/11/robert-kraft-joins-trump-japanese-pm-for-dinner/

Great shows. I watched many seasons of his work, including the very odd Cop Rock.

Herculean? Infinite Destroyer? Please. In Chicago or New York, they simply call a sandwich with this much beef a "beef sandwich."

Good to see Masako looking genuinely happy.

What was the "growth" rate for non Korean, non Chinese visitors?

Here you go.

https://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/ttp/sta/PDF/E2018.pdf

They key part of the marketing here is location - busy downtown areas - hence the name Centric. From the interiors, Centric seems to be competing with Conrad and perhaps cannibalizing some customers from Andaz, which is slightly more upscale. Grand Hyatts are usually larger, and Park Hyatt a bit more old-fashioned by comparison.

Men dressed as Edo era firemen performed acrobatic stunts on top of bamboo ladders.

Fires, overcome with delight, extinguished themselves.

On Twitter?

Wouldn't that be libel, not slander?

In comparison, for 5.5 trillion Japanese yen, you could buy 493 Airbus a320 aircraft, about 25 times the number of planes Peach currently owns.

40 billion yen divided by, say, an annual salary of 4 million yen per full-time employee would be 10,000 new immigration/customs officials. Yes, some of that money would be used for multi-lingual signage, but still, the tax revenue seems excessive and wasteful.

While in a steak house, eating a steak, a suteki construction worker carrying a stake sits down and orders the same steak that you're having.

With Peach airlines and some planning, this can be a one-day trip, though two or more days are easier to manage.

Recommended for everyone's Japan bucket list. Get some taco rice and beer at the restaurant next to the giant aquarium.

I recall she was supposed to make an appearance at Universal Studios on a day I happened to be there. Lots of people so we got there 30 minutes early. Then waited for about 20 minutes after her scheduled appearance time but no Mariah. We gave up. So it would be easy to disparage her as a diva. Still, I doubt she intentionally put on a bad performance on live national television. She clearly says she can't hear, and asks for the monitors to be turned on, and says something about not doing a sound check. Then the next song, they use a vocal track, and she is forced to half-heatedly lip sync.

Single in rural Kansai - 115.000 per month for food, apartment, utilities. Health insurance is based on age, income and location. Income tax is based on income.

This is not a " revolutionary new product". I discovered this in my childhood. I'm sure many others did as well.

Martin Sheen was also President Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone. "The missiles are flying. Hallelujah, hallelujah."