mataka comments

I feel sorry for the authorities and rescue workers and medical staff who had to deal with the aftermath of these selfish, pathetic and sickening acts. Did the perpetrators leave enough money to pay for the high cost to the authorities of dealing with the bodies and damage to the street etc? If not, the money will need to be recovered from close relatives.

Although he will be made a scapegoat, it is at least reassuring to know that it is payback time for Lee Jae Yong. His corrupt father has escaped justice due to ailing health, but will know on his deathbed what the repurcussions of decades of criminal actions, wanton corruption and undue privilege will be and what a new generation of Koreans will do to to start to unravel their unjust and crippled society. If only many of the corrupt elite in Japan and elsewhere would befall the same fate. Time to start building the world's biggest bonfire.

"Lucasfilm insists Episode VIII will be Fisher's last"

Oh how considerate of them! The company says this as it has alone decided Fisher's fate while spinning how much she means to them. She died. If they really cared they would not be spouting such rubbish. A child could see through such insincerity. Her family is in mourning. Leave them alone. Who do they think they are?

Many workers go in late avoiding the crowded trains. Several of my colleagues cycle to work. It is possible to live in Tokyo without using rush hour trains. And the good idea above regarding decentralizing which Rakuten did recently. It is usually a ruse for companies to save money by using cheaper land but if it is a win-win, why not.

Good! The developed world is plagued with these cancer types. While mommy is in jail, it will be a good lesson for the brat: you have to earn respect. Being handed everything on a plate by rich criminal parents is hardly appropriate for a supposedly civilised society. If she were not Korean, Keio would take her as they take anything which is walking money these days. I wonder how many Ivy League universities will be willing to take her now she too has a criminal record?

The last of the real dangerous puppet regimes. Wish NK could understand that the early 1960s ended in (drum roll...) the early 1960s. Kim continues to waddle his orca-fat frame about while his poor people starve. Now is the last chance to take him out. Once he has usable nukes, we will have reached the point of no return when an internal rebellion or coup will be the only way to terminate the regime. I wonder if NK's heightened rhetoric and continual flouting of UN resolutions will cause Trump to attempt any military action against NK. Would be nice to see the 1960s finally come to an end in East Asia and human rights and freedom return.

I wonder how many more celebrities will die in the next few minutes.

I hope that the poor woman's death was not in vain. Workers of all companies should report extreme or excessive working hours and practices to an independent body and companies should be exposed more by media and the customers informed in detail of the practices of the company. The meaningless gesture of resignation and the obscene golden goodbye payout is unacceptable. Unless people join together and hold senior business leaders accountable, nothing will change in corporate Japanese culture. Japan is the only developed country in the world where there is zero accountability of business leaders.

I want to see a culture where good morals and good leadership is praised and recognised. By contrast, people who cheat, commit white collar fraud and do not live up to their responsibility are prosecuted, punished by jail time, stripped of financial assets and forced to apologise directly to the victims of their crimes in a public forum.

May the force be with you. RIP princess Leia.

Would this be the same meaning of "top priority" and "strong interest" that Abe, Suga et al. have placed on the J-economy over the last 5 years? If so, expect ****-all progress on the currency front then.

Michael Jackson, Prince, and now George Michael. A whole load of famous artists died because of drug abuse. Drugs weakened their hearts and killed them. Say NO to drugs. No more. No more drugs. We must stand together, we don't have to be part of a crowd. We can just be who we are and and stand up proud. Just say no!

George Michael was a big part of our young lives and a huge talent. Exactly the same as Prince earlier in the year, it was the drug abuse that got him. Years of abuse and drug taking took a toll on his heart. 53 is too young to die. In his twenties he had a beautiful face and tanned d fined body but the drugs really reversed all that in his later life and he aged much and piled on the pounds. So sad.

"You don't have to be part of a crowd. Just be who you are and stand up proud. Just say no."

I wish Michael san had stood up to drugs and just said, "You know what, NO! No way! I am not going to take any drugs" He probably had not heard of the big hit song "Just say no" by the Grange Hill gang. I think it would be a good time to re-release a new version to prevent more needless deaths.

RIP George Michael

As if we need yet another reason why the majority of folks have nothing but disdain and contempt for the laughing stock that is the Japanese legal system - a self serving, self perpetuating group of parasites who only exist to serve their own interests.

So Trump broke protocol? In this case, good! Taiwan is not part of China and will never, ever, ever be so in the future. The Taiwanese themselves are very clear about that. It is only natural that Trump as President-elect would receive such a call and maintain good relations with Taiwan, an independent sovereign nation. It is beyond a joke that China is still pushing this renegade province BS. It would be far more effective if China complained to themselves in a mirror. That is how useless, pathetic and desperate they have become. I almost feel sorry for them for their huge lack of perception of what the world thinks. They are only kidding themselves. History teaches us again and again, China is doomed to fail.

How can anyone committed to human rights mourn Fidel Castro - a man who killed and repressed his own people?

For the millions who cannot wait for this cancer to disappear from public life, it is not long to go now.

Assuming Clinton wins on Tuesday, Comey et al. better start making plans to move. The FBI is gonna be relocated to Guantanemo Bay on Wednesday. And that will all be before the Dems even BEGIN to start crucifying them. What goes around, comes around.

"Streaming sucks" So why the u-turn? Money doesn't suck, does it? Mr Young, kindly be sincere from the start and focus on making great music - something you are very good at. Leave the insincerity and hypocrisy to the politicians.

I feel very sad for the serious injury to others, damage to property and enormous waste of public money as a result of this heinous criminal act. It reminds me of another suicidal man who set light to himself on a shinkansen a year or so ago killing an innocent passenger and injuring others. Both stupid and unforgivable crimes. The perpetrator was right about one thing, the world is far better off without him.

According to my Japanese husband, The Mainichi Shimbun reported that the driver overheard a man on the platform shout out that, "all these foreigners are a nuisance". Based on my daily observations on the train, it is Japanese middle aged and older passangers who are a nuisance and not foreigners. I don't see foreigners barging into a train before passangers have had a chance to get off. Respect to the woman for taking this up with station staff. This news has been reported in several western news outlets today. The driver should be punished and not just receive a verbal warning. I urge people to send e-mail links of this foreign news to the customer service and enquiries division of the train company to shame them into making sure such moronic members of their staff do not make similar utterances in future.

Why is such a criminal as Ishihara free to make such a decision? He is responsible and so he should be subpoenaed and forcibly be made to attend any hearings. In 2008 as Tokyo governor his gross negligence and reckless actions wasted 100 billion Yen (over 1000 million US Dollars at the time) of our taxpayer money with his failed shinginko debt-ridden bank to bail out equally incompetent people. Why was he not held criminally accountable? At the very least he should have been bankrupted, stripped of all assets and been held financially accountable. If anyone knows of any civil proceedings against him which folks can join or if anyone is interested in starting one, please post details. I would be interested to join a class action lawsuit against him to ensure he is held accountable in a court of law. Japan is the only developed country in the world where there is Zero accountability for public officials and corrupt business leaders. Ishihara will die soon but it is not too late to make sure he does so in jail.

There is absolutely nothing Scotland can do about it either. They should have thought more about it before the majority of them voted to stay in the UK.

Apple is a great company. But why did they choose to partner with Deloitte? In addition to a string of failures and scandals at many businesses worldwide, Deloitte's huge incompetency and failure to deliver was also blamed as one of the major causes in Apple's home state of California in two major public accounting scandals. They involved the courts system and public schools system and wasted over $1 billion of our public money. My company has vowed never ever to work with them again. What is Apple thinking?!

Marilyn Manson would be a better choice.

The Games is not finished yet and I'm rooting for the underdog.

UAE!!!

"Imagine German politicians visiting a similar Hitlerkuni or Nazikuni shrine?"

A slight stretch of the imagination. But anyway, herein lies the problem for Japan: German politicians generally have not done so, do not do so and will not do so. Unlike Japan, in Germany the denial of history is rightly prohibited and rightly severely punished under the law. This is also one reason why in Japan you see such ignorant people in positions of authority and the scum in the photo. Every year at this time they continue to paint Japan as solely a victim in the war it wantonly perpetrated across Asia. It is why in the international community that Germany is respected as having learned from history and Japan remains a laughing stock for not having done so.

This is what happens when you are more than a bit thick or if, for whatever reason, you did not attend school.

Happy Mountain Day everyone! For those folks who are often too busy, hopefully they can spend some much needed down time with family and friends.

A stunning performance from a true Olympic legend. Congratulations Kohei Uchimura!

World demands apology from China for ruining tourist spots the world over and embarrassing the human race by behaving like cockroaches.