Mike DeJong comments

Climate change deniers are almost as bad as history deniers (Creationists).

About 97% of the world's scientists agree that climate change is happening. They base their opinions on scholarly research showing rising sea levels, melting arctic ice, increasing global surface temperatures, rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, etc. You know, actual research.

(See here what NASA scientists think. http://climate.nasa.gov/key_indicators/)

I'll go with real science over anecdotal evidence of flying over the frozen Great Lakes.

Incredible. Great article, guys.

Woe to those who aren't part of group-think in this country.

Japan is lame in soccer. What a great result.

Well, the article states that the father "was divorced" from the mother. Therefore, it's likely that he had custody and could legally keep the mother away. It's another example of why Japan's single-custody system must be changed to protect children.

Perhaps Hentai University would be a better name. ;)

Um, in English, I think it's called "ecstasy."

TPP sayonara!

It's amazing how fast Tokyo can be transformed into a police state...

It's also the fault of the country's culture of overwork. When someone is on the job 50-60 hours a week, not much time or energy left to make babies.

Funny, I work for a female boss now and she's terrific.

Does this mean that Japanese female athletes will now be penalized for having boyfriends? Will they have to shave their heads in shame?

I find that Coco Juku "international wedding" ad worse. What is it implying - if you learn English you can "steal" the girl from the foreign boyfriend?

Tanaka will last maybe a year or two in the Majors. Then his arm will give out. All the overwork he experienced in Japan will come back to haunt him.

Why do the Japanese need "official" government recognition of everything? We know flu season has begun - do we need the government to tell us that?

Well, MLB scouts are already worried about his arm due to overwork. I'd be reluctsnt to give him a long-term contract if I was a MLB GM.

Love the Kong show! Mr. K is a great guy. Good luck with it.

@falseflagsteve Actually, the GDP would rise if more women not only stay in the workforce but also move into management positions. That would boost their wages, creating more spending power for essentially half the population that now has little. More women in the workforce could also conceivably reduce the amount of time spent by men at work, freeing them up for more time with their families. It's a win-win for everyone but would require complete cultural change in this country.

Wasteful government spending and largesse? lol!

@kimuzukashii "I'm sorry, but I stand by my opinion that babies and children in the vast majority of cases need their mother more than the father."

This is the most naive comment I have ever seen on this issue. Are you saying that fathers are unable to raise their children? Dads are just money machines while mothers are always better suited to raise kids?

What about MOTHERS who are abusive. In my case (and in many others) it was the WOMAN who was violent, abusive and emotionally unstable. Yet these are the people getting custody of the children.

Also, what about the many left behind cases involving mothers who have lost their kids. At least 20% of the abduction cases involve left behind mothers.

Japan's sole custody system promotes and supports these abductors.

@Hardmentoughblokes You are wrong. Several studies have shown that more women would boost Japan's economy. Google Kathy Matsui's "Womenomics" report for example.

Here's a quote: "If Japan could close its gender employment gap, we estimate that Japan’s workforce could expand by 8.2 mn and the level of Japan’s GDP could increase by as much as 15%. Against a backdrop of anemic consumption, female spending trends have been relatively resilient."

And yes, birthrates have fallen in many countries, but not as fast as in Japan, where it's the lowest in the developed world. One quarter of Japan's population is already over 60. In the future, young people will face tremendous pressure to pay taxes and fund pensions and social services.

Good the government is saving every yen too and not wasting billions on things like Olympic Stadiums... Oh, never mind. Just dig deeper into that dark debt hole.

Great. How much are these corporations willing to pay for the multi-billion dollar facilities? Or are they going to let taxpayers foot the bill and just reap profits off advertising and product marketing. I would love to see someone do a story on how much a Tokyo Games would cost taxpayers.

Totally agree with the comments by Bruce and Patrick. The Hague is just window dressing. The real problem is the systemic denial of parental rights following divorce or separation. Until this problem is fixed, thousands of children in Japan will continue to suffer.

Hey SFJP. MLB scouts actually say NPB is more like 4-A, not "poor quality AA baseball."

And yes, while Nishioka sucked last year, other former NPB'ers were good to outstanding in MLB.

Yu Darvish finished with 16 wins in his rookie season. After a slow start, he was 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA in his last eight outings. A 20 win season is not out of his reach in the future.

We all know how great Ichiro and Hideki Matsui were in MLB. But how about Nori Aoki? The Brewers are considering him as their leadoff hitter this year after a solid season, where he batted .288 with 10 home runs, 37 doubles, 30 stolen bases and a .355 OBP.

Hiroki Kuroda was the Yankees' best starter last year, going 16-11 with a 3.32 ERA.

Finally, Ryan Vogelsong and Colby Lewis were only average pitchers in Japan. But both went on to become stars in MLB. Vogelsong helped the SF Giants to a World Series title last season with excellent pitching in the post season.

The best might be yet to come from Japan though: Hiroyuki Nakajima. He should be a star this season as the Oakland A's starting shortstop.

Okimike... why don't you compare relevant statistics like these. Number of firearm homicides per country last year:

Japan 11 Australia 30 England and Wales 41 France 35 Greece 29 Ireland 21 Netherlands 55 Spain 90 Canada 173 USA 9,146

Need we say more? The US is a third world country when it comes to protecting its own citizens.

By the way, there are many more cases of Japanese child abdcution on this website. Some of the examples are heartbreaking...

http://crnjapan.net/The_Japan_Childrens_Rights_Network/art-thkoch06.html

AiserX: "It's my experience that often in marriages like these the foreign husband just so happens to be the domineering types. Which IMO partly explains why so often the child is "abducted" (oxymoron) away. Just looking at this mans intense gaze on that picture above makes me uneasy."

That is the dumbest comment I have ever read on this issue and it belies the racism that lies at the heart of this problem. AiserX, not all foreign husbands are the "domineering types." In my case, my Japanese wife was verbally and physically abusive... one time causing neighbors to call the cops in Canada because of her screaming.

Did you know that 20 percent of the abduction cases involved Japanese fathers and foreign moms? (One case is featured in that excellent movie From the Shadows). So should we count these foreign moms as "domineering types" too?

The bottom line is that Japanese parents know that they can easily abduct their children and flee back to the safety and protection of the Japanese government.

It's an international shame and a crime against children.

Where was the father?

Do you people not read this story? Second line says the flight left from Kansai Airport.