Mike James comments

Can't link. Search this: "Offshore wind is too expensive, and that’s unlikely to change"

Link:

Another reporter who needs to stop the sensationalism and get their facts correct. Buri is a winter fish, caught off the Nihonkai seacoast. For the last few years (20+), it has been plenty cold and more than enough snow has fallen. The buri has been delicious. Why talk about a non existent problem.

Another existential threat article with no scientific backing and also a major flaw with the example is the summer heat this year. Around the world, June 2022 was the coolest on record. July was hot and the current days recently in Tokyo, 30 to 33 degrees is what I have experienced over the last few years. Humidity is low this year, so it seems better than it did in 2018 and 2019. With a million years of history, who can say for confidence that this one year makes a trend that did not happen in millennia past? We can't afford the 900kg of heavy oil it takes to run a wind turbine and it kind of defeats the purpose. If you are interested, look at the costs.

Bring on those downvotes, along with more nuclear power.

If 7-11 can screen, hire, train (rather well actually…) and employ 27,000+ part time NJs (Lawson too, where the level of Japanese language ability and service often exceeds J-staff), why can’t Uber Eats ask to see a passport or Registration Card? It’s not rocket science.

This taints all NJs, casts a shadow on those working part-time jobs, and reinforces a mostly false stereotype of people from certain countries.

The last thing you want to give a government that takes no responsibility for any errors or omissions is the power to lock down its citizens.

China is doing this now. The government welds apartment gates shut, puts armored guards in the streets with orders to shoot, and delivers meager government-chosen rations of rotting vegetables to its subjects every three days through a peephole as in solitary confinement. Result? COVID cases increasing. Sounds like utopia.

China recently locked down a city of 11 million, and of course, no news about success. Once the power to control the population with the threat of death, kiss the county goodbye. There is no need to report to the Populus or ask again if given power such as this. Power is simply taken and used. Anyone who has lived through a war cannot seriously be in favor of a lockdown. If you haven't been to war, book a flight into Afghanistan and enjoy the horrors of a country's self-imploding.

Once the ability to lockdown occurs, it will take another war or uprising to eliminate it. In addition, ratting on neighbors and many related problems Japan experienced during WWII will appear again with a lockdown, and the few existing freedoms will disappear. The app for reporting foreigners will be used for Japanese citizens within weeks. You can't seriously think it was for tourists ad foreigners only, can you? If that appeals to you, move to Beijing. Japan does not have body bags piling up in the streets but needs vaccinations. Lockdowns just magnify and lengthen the problem.

Research has shown there is more transmission INSIDE a home than OUTSIDE the home. So unlike some countries that tried a lockdown and are now experiencing more crime, more domestic violence, and no depreciable numbers of COVID cases, the cure is worse than the disease.

If the population is immunized, the problem will become manageable. People who call for lockdowns but refuse to get vaccinated have no right to force others to follow flawed logic. So go get jabbed, and if you can't get a reservation, bring a few friends and have a sit in at your local city hall and call the newspaper. Your jab will arrive shortly.

Japan suffered through enough Kempeitai and other tactics designed to control the population. No need to try it again.

If you want to stay home 24/7, quit your job, and have enough money from Daddy to live on indefinitely, go ahead. But, don't force an unproven and ineffective solution on others.

@ Obladi 07:21 “Question is, by the time we get the vaccine, will it still protect us from the most infectious virus variant?”

You need to read a little more. All Warp Speed vaccines protect from all strains and not one person who took the vaccine has died from Covid. 100% effective. Three are many vaccines which have much worse profiles that do the Covid-10 vaccine. Take it easy and show the nurse your deltoid.

@snowymountainhell

What part of “the regulation affects all classes of inbound travelers (Japanese citizens, foreign residents of Japan, and temporary business/tourism travelers)” did you not understand?

Interestingly enough, jazz bassist Marcus Miller, who has played tours Japan since the late mid 80’s, held a benefit concert with Q-tip and Robert Glasper in NYC, and the venue, musicians and video personnel donated their time and 100% of all proceeds to Fukushima. His money and other assistance arrived before the Red Cross ans was an astounding figure— probably more than he ever made playing gigs here.

To those who want him to apologize and quit and then will consider volunteering, consider this;

Regardless of what he said, please continue to volunteer, and Japan can bring the people of the world to Japan, you have a chance to show the good and kind and modern side of Japan, and create a better Japan as then his comments will die with him.

Boycotting the comments just keeps him in he spotlight, something he enjoys. then Jaan will be remembered for his comments and not your volunteer work or lack of it.

Don't destroy the opportunity to so something wonderful because Mori said something stupid. Overpower his prejudice with kindness and compassion and a spirit of helping.

If you give up, he wins, you lose.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/森喜朗

First, I can't stand his comments. Let's get it out of the way. Through the years, he has insulted and embarrassed just about everyone on earth in one way or the other. Here is what they don't tell you.

Post-war, people in Hokuriku and Nihonkai know him well, were often 'hinted' to by their boss and neighbors that he is the 'right' choice to vote for (begrudgingly), and when he was young, he was even worse. Anyone who has lived in Nihonkai knows his style well. Cast from the same model as Kakuei Tanaka.

Yoshiro Mori was born in a truly awful time to be alive and a kid in Japan (1937), and still famous. He became a councilor and helped bring necessities to an impoverished and neglected Nihonkai area. He did a lot of slick work and arranged one military airport (Komatsu) controlled by the US to be transferred back to civilian use (shared now with the JSDF and reverted to civilian use from the US), and had another build on Noto. 

He planned, pushed, and got his way to pass and build Hokuriku Shinkansen. He was very powerful in the '70s through the '90s and is LDP, so no chance any charges or issues will stick. If you know the ranking of Ministries, a look at his resume will show you he didn't get there because he was an angel. 

Everyone over the age of 30 knows this very well. Most who know Mori's history were unhappy and disappointed he can't keep his trap shut but probably were not surprised at Mori's comments. They have heard them before.

Most people in Hokuriku have mixed feelings about him because his mouth and attitude, crass methods, and inability to say no or say sorry has been a staple of his Reign in Hokuriku since he was old enough to talk.

The rub is they don't care for him too much personally and call him "Yoshiroo!" with a tinge of disrespect but know well that he was much too rough around the edges. He makes most of anybody under 60 uncomfortable; everyone knows they would not have an airport, several large factories to employ the neglected Hokuriku area, and a Shinkansen (well used due to Komatsu's area Airport) and many infrastructure projects. Still, for them, it's the price to be paid. 

As he gains in years, for those who lived through being born on the wrong side of the island and were always very last on the list for anything the governed handed out or helped provide, will remember him for a lot, not all of it good, but he was the right man at the right time. 

He should have waved goodbye to, finally, when the Hokuriku Shinkansen was opened. Trust me, his comments and attitude were precisely the same the minute he was born and have only become worse every day.

If you read Japanese or can translate, here is his bio.

@bokuwamoToday  

"The vaccines currently available have been produced without final testing done on animals; when vaccines were under development for SARS, it was not produced because in the final tests the animals all died and it was stopped."

Untrue. The COVID-19 Tests followed and passed all testing protocols.

"...it is unknown if it stops transmission or recurrences."

Untrue. It does NOT stop transmission, and this was well documented and covered extensively even in the regular news. If someone is vaccinated, they have a 5% chance of getting C-19 themselves, and since the virus is still in the body, it can be transmitted to others as there is nothing preventing the virus from leaving the body (sans mask). Those involved in developing the vaccines knew well the severe adverse reaction ratios. So far, the severe adverse reaction ratio is about .00006%; the chance of dying from C19 is .5% to 2% without a vaccination, depending on the country and the person. Take your choice.

@Jbigs

Jumping to conclusions here?

Japan does not allow any non-Japanese into the country now. Full stop. So why do you assume they are foreigners? There is absolutely no evidence. Read the article carefully again.

Can you show me where in the article it says that these four people are Brazilian? This article falls over itself in hiding the fact that these people are more than likely, Japanese. The lack of a nationality attached to the four people is the giveaway.

If they were NJ, it would be in the headline. The Japanese media is using the term 「ブラジルから帰国者」(Four returnees from Brazil) and the term "returnees" is almost always used for Japanese. If they were Brzillian or of another natinality, the media and especially the government would be sure to note these travellers were not Japanese.

@troy

"clinical trials done overseas. trials need to be done here because Japanese people are 'special'." not special but different: It is a a given fact the medicines affect different racial groups differently."

Did you read the article? It is NOT a given fact the medicines will always affect different racial groups differently. And in case, the vaccine is not a "medicine," s your point is mute.

To quote your article.... "Race is a crude proxy to genetic ancestry and falls short of explaining the variation in response to medication." Thus, it is not a question of being a Japanese national or not.

Further, most medications can be controlled by dosing, but the two vaccines are not medications, they are mRNA. There is a big difference, Further, unlike other vacancies, the mRNA does not contain eggs or preservatives as a flu shots do. All it is is a tiny piece of genetic code to stimulate a coronavirus immune response. It does not contain C19.

Read up before jumping to conclusions.

RIP. Poor girl and her family who have been changed forever. I often wonder how my kids made it to adulthood without being maimed or killed. Where I live, a red light means "go even faster to get through the intersection," and stop signs are the same as a shrub or tree on the side of the street. The signs are there just to keep the traffic sign companies in business via the local Koban.

As I mentioned before, I am much more worried about getting hit by a bus, truck or car, than I am of getting COVID in Japan. With my luck the driver who hits me will have COVID.

A State of Emergency is merely three words in Japan that have no significance. Businesses that "close" just collect $5,000 a month per location without closing! To skirt the laws and make money while accepting free handouts, all that is required is for the owners to lock the front door at 8 pm, install reflective film on the windows, don't respond if the cops come knocking, and no one asks any questions. Why do you imagine they are attaching a "penalty" this time? The government won't enforce the penalty anyway.

The last thing Japan needs is to enforce an actual lockdown.

Nowhere in the world has a lockdown achieved what was intended. On the flip side, with the massive upsurge in crime, mental health issues, and the concurrent decimation of New York, Los Angeles, and other major cities worldwide (not to mention diabetes, high blood pressure, and other health issues), a lockdown is much worse than the .000001% chance of dying from COVID. Especially in Japan. Another spike always follows a lockdown. Lockdowns simply temporarily extend the next wave's timing until everyone gets it or is vaccinated against it.

Lockdowns have been proven to be ineffective, and dangerous.

The government should use the money they give restaurants should spend it on syringes, and start jabbing people at the rate of 10 million per day. They can do this at the big AEON shopping centers on the weekends, and all medical institutions, clinics, one-doctor offices, and even Fukutaro, etc. That is the best and easiest way to solve this problem. Give a jab to arriving tourists at international airports too after checking they are not infected. Why not?

@ TARA TAN KITAOKATA

"JAPANESE government have to lock down immediately."

There is no evidence that a lockdown works better than masks, social distancing, and good hygiene. However, the number of suicides, bankrupt companies (which employ millions), and DV has increased exponentially. LA, NY, virtually any lockdown in any city has been ineffective at slowing down the transmission. Restaurants and shops that take precautions have a low actual transmission rate (about 2%); being locked down is the problem.

Name a country, city, or area where a lockdown has eliminated or even slowed down the infection rate*? New York, or Los Angeles? No. Both are getting worse. Anywhere in the EU? No. 

Lockdowns only prolong the problem, increase the suicide rate cause a surge in domestic violence rates, , and spike other violent crimes as well .

So who got it right? 

A place with the fewest new cases as a percentage of the population, the lowest number of deaths, no lockdowns, no hospital overflows, and to top it off, a BUDGET SURPLUS, an increase in housing starts, and a net increase of citizens in the state. Just a REQUEST for masks and social distancing as best as possible from the governor. 

South Dakota (with Florida and Disney World coming second best as a free state).

(*China does not count as the number of urns delivered to hospitals exceeded the number of deaths by 10X, and no reliable numbers are available. To be fair, American hospitals can get up to $70,000 extra in fees if COVID is the primary cause of death, so the number of COVID deaths is more than likely inflated. Colorado has opened an official investigation after the cause of a murder victim with three point-blank bullet holes in his head was classified as a COVID death).

@smartacus

"Perhaps Japan is doing the same thing, waiting to see, plus doing clinical trials of its own. It is prudent to watch for side effects, especially with this new variant on the loose."

New variant is protected against by all current vaccines. So far, 2.1 million doses administered., Five light allergic reactions, and one serious reaction to a person who had a history of serious allergies. Taken care of in 2 minutes with an Epipen. Six out of 2.1 million?

Negative incidence ratio of 0.000002857142857. Give me my jab. I have a better chance of getting hit by a bus or a taxi in the Ginza.

Cut off mig comment]

@Fighto!

79% at home, markets at 1%.

California, NY, and other states are closing down with fines attached, yet the spread continues uncontrolled. Florida has no lockdown and no records except "try to wear a mask and have some common sense," and as a result, Florida has the lowest transmission anywhere, even with Disney World. Shutdowns only kick the can down the road.

BTW--there are now three vaccinations available, and Japan has contracted for delivery already, but there is nothing but crickets from the government, with some mumbling that distribution may start "sometime in late February."

Stop picking on the most vulnerable and stop the threats of meaningless "lockdowns." Just start the vaccinations.

Very poor sentence structure "... Japan said it will ban nonresident foreign citizens from entering the country, which has been seeing record daily numbers of coronavirus cases in recent weeks."

This should read:

His comments on Fuji TV's "The Prime" news program came a day after Japan, which has been seeing daily record numbers of coronavirus cases in recent weeks, said it would ban nonresident foreign citizens from entering the country.

@Do the hustle

It is easy to understand. the 2 billion JPY is so Nissan can dump cars, offer 0% financing with no money down, and try to claw back lost market share with freebies to customers who are buying other brands as if they were hotcakes.

They call it a loan but it will never get paid back, it will disappear into the back hole of the bureaucracy. If you are in Japan, you are doing your civic [no pun intended] duty Nissan dump cars in the U.S.

@gokai_wo_maneku

"Free the nipples." You must be young or not into reading much.

"Free the nipples" started in the 70s when women started burning their bras, as a sign of women's liberation. Now they don't burn bras, "woken" women now just don't wear them. So without a bra, the nipples are "free" to move around as they desire. Seems to have the opposite effect than was intended, but who am I to judge free nipples when the wind blows cold....

Who writes these articles? Either someone too young to know anything or too out of touch to be living by themselves.

This is not 1975. McDonalds has been in Japan since 1970, even grandma eats a cheseburger, both clear and metal teeth braces are commonplace, as is a row of teeth whitening toothpaste, readily available and selling well at Matsukiyoshi and all drugstores for $10 to $20 per tube. If close, most Japanese have been to Costco or knows someone who has been there. It is not 'strange and foreign" anymore. Last time I was at Costco, there were only Japanese there, filling up their vans full of groceries by the case. hmmm. Boring.

The writer started off with a thesis and found uninformed people to fill out is story, or the author and the participants are living in a parallel universe where they refuse to see and accept anything except differences.

For newcomers to Japan, after Sony started selling transistor radios in the United States, it was one of the first companies (40-45 years ago--maybe more) to prohibit a picture or address on a resume. Then it went to last name only during the final screening. They needed it later after selection for 同姓同名.

Why address? Many Japanese companies also use(d) Buraku Maps to look up an applicant's address to determine if a "permanent home address" was in a Buraku area. If it was, they would eliminate the applicant or put them in a very undesirable position to quit. It was and is, of course, illegal, but no one does anything about it. Some Japanese companies still use areas and names as a hint, but it took 150 years to slow down this kind of discrimination. Still, many Japanese companies use age, pictures, addresses, last names, and work backward, i.e., looking at reasons NOT to hire instead of WHY to hire.

Sony does the opposite. They look for any spark, which indicates talent, and finds a place for every employee to thrive. Sony was and still is a leader in eliminating discrimination, and a friend who works there says they need people who can work to make creative and quality products.

p.s. I have never worked for Sony or even tried, but I have many friends who are proud of being pioneers.

Mitsubishi has always been a third-rate automaker, has had recall after recall since the early 80's, produce trucks with bad axels and wheels that shear off and kill children, and their vehicles don't sell well even in good times.

They should offer the whole company early retirement, not just to those over 45. This is just another gaff and mistake by Mitsubishi management. I, for one, won't cry if they go under if they keep doing their best to become a third-rate company.

"The nurse said that her last name is an integral part of her identity.She built her professional life with the name she has always known, including publishing writing under it, and changing seemed like "being cut off from my career," especially without assurances that employers would allow her to retain her maiden name."

Untrue. Companies, especially professional associations, and most organizations have allowed for more than the last 25 years, for people to work under their maiden name, and there is a line for this on the standard Japanese resume. This is a non-issue.

"They could be refused hospitalization as a family, could be barred from receiving critical treatment information, or be unable able to sign consent for medical treatments on the other's behalf should it be warranted."

They should then come a family under the law. Her personal feelings to the law is irrelevant. She should petition her local lawmaker. But no politician will take this up, as 90% of the population is against it, as it ends up with disjointed families that cannot figure out their family histories.

"There are other worries, too. Since her husband has parental rights, his sudden death would leave her with no legal claim over their children, putting them in a vulnerable position."

If she is really worried, she should follow the law and the customs of the country. They country need not have to cater to her individual worries. If she is really worried, she is putting herself ahead of her children, which makes her a poor mother with little to no ethical responsibility as a parent.

"Suspicion over a possible link between wild animal meat and COVID-19". How much more weak can the support for the case be? "Suspicion over a possible link" is about as weak as one can get.

If they want to sell mystery meat and someone wants to buy, that is fine, but people need to stop judging other's choices and shaming. If shaming is acceptable, then all kinds if shaming are on the table. I vote for none, especially when it is based on "suspicion" and gnawing at some misplaced righteousness.

Dubious company, dubious drug. Bristol deserves special attention due to a lack of internal oversights and loose compliance with rules and regulations fo the countries in which they operate.

Here is another prime example of a non-story. Read the stats backwards for a clear understanding.

70 percent of husbands in Japan felt more positive , and 60 percent of wives DID NOT feel stressed at having to be with their kids and husbands all the time.... [not much difference]

However, THREE in FOUR housewives whose husbands have experienced teleworking said they WANT their husbands to continue the practice, according to the survey. [75%--sounds like a great number of positives here, folks]

Meanwhile, 78 PERCENT of female respondents said they DID NOT grow irritated more often ... and 88.7 percent DID NOT GET frustrated .... [Almost 80% and 90% positive --sounds like just one or two per hundred. Great job all--telework is a success and it is bringing families closer together in almost 80% of the cases!]

Where is the story. There is no story.

Sounds like Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. has statisticians who can't tell a story so they flip good data to make it sound bad