Mizu no Oto comments

In Japan I hear customer is King. So for me to walk into a store and the first thing when the business sees when they look my way is a thief is disheartening. I already have enough weird shopkeepers following me around just because I don't look the same and so the assumption is made I'm going to be the one lifting something. I'm the one who fits the stereotype, not the Japanese jiji that has been getting bad press in the paper.

Now I'm going to have bounty-hunter 'customers' follow me around? No thank you. If that is what I see happening, I'm out of there. My own personal policy is not to do repeat business with these kinds of stores with almost no exceptions!

As the name implies, the service allows members of the general public ...

How many times in your life have you actually witnessed someone shoplifting?

As the picture implies, can an individual make a stack of cash doing little? I think not. If you are an otaku you could do this 'bounty hunter' as a hobby, very slow hobby bt there ain't no way you could make a living.

We need to get those 70,000 Centenarians back into the work force!

I bet these homes will get their monthly TEPCO bill and still have to pay the basic service price.

I wouldn't recommend investing here. Even though you don't here it this way anymore, Japan is still in post bubble and we are now 30 years in. The LDP isn't going to get things in order and the Japanese view the other parties as too weak to vote for. By choice Japan is essentially a one-party system.

Wow someone who doesn't lack the courage to make his thoughts known. Someone who can exercise his convictions at the risk to himself, but to the benefit to the health of the country. Japan wouldn't be in the mess they are in if they had more Kimiyuki Nagashimas!

Who's more patriotic, one who stands for the countries national song as that is the very thing that is expected or one who remains seated despite the pressures from all sides to conform? They love their country so much to risk judgement just to convey to the land they love that it has gone down the wrong road?

13 paragraphs in this article, 190 words (or so I'm not counting them twice). It was the government under the control of the LDP to ensure that TEPCO was maintaining regulations. Instead we don't know what the government was doing, but we found things to be very lax, all at the cost of the kind people of Fukushima who now at the very least have a tarnished image.

8 content words are all you can respond with?

"There are risks and fears about nuclear power But 'zero-nukes' is, at the moment and in the future, not realistic."

Why is it that you stop so short Sugawara-san? Is it that you don't have the speaking skills to make your case? Is it that you have the title of authority, but you really don't have the answers to counter Koizumi-san's claims? Is it because you have the title of authority, but that's what one of your Senpai s ordered you to say and so you felt you had no other choice, but give us one sentence? Is it because you need to manage 'behind the scenes' special interests? Is it because the LDP has been in power so long and the opposition so weak that you feel a sense of entitlement?

Why aren't you making a clear rational case to the people of Japan? A well laid out common sense approach can make things clearer and put many at ease. The people of Japan are losing faith in 'Brand Japan'. All the while the LDP is at the helm or are they?

If zero nuclear plants aren't realistic, set us up with details as to why you have come to this conclusion. Let scholars vet your claims. Add transparency. Tell us why you haven't moved forward to reduce Japan's reliance on Nuclear energy by setting up a better link between renewable energy and the power lines that would serve surrounding homes. Japan is one of the most earthquake prone areas in the world. Don't just tell us how you will ensure that badly placed reactors will be safe, show us.

Japan Post is spoken about as a group. This article neither mentions a single person in position nor mountains of boxes being carted away. Heads won't roll here as they did in Nissan's case. Look for an apologetic bow from the nameless top and a slap on the wrist from the powers to be.

It's so great to see a token woman.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Like most Japanese reporting, missing from this article is a side-by-side comparison. It's hard to trust a system that does reporting this way and doesn't even attempt to ask why the Japanese judicial system isn't getting involved let alone do their own investigative reporting.

Carlos Ghosn arrested and fired after an internal probe found he underreported his salary and for other financial violations, including the personal use of company assets, the firm and Japanese state media said. A whistleblower report found he falsified reports over many years. The investigation showed that over many years he has been reporting compensation amounts in the Tokyo Stock Exchange securities report that were less than the actual amount, in order to reduce the disclosed amount of his compensation. (Ghosn's situation early on)

Respect goes out to a country that continues to show true humility and take ownership from the wake of sorrow and destruction the generations before it had caused. I see few nations who are brave enough to continue to bow down to this level for so long. I also don't see the level of animosity from the living whose ancestors were the victims. Thank you Germany for being a model for us all.

@ Vince Black

You're absolutely right. That was the case for my family, but for Japanese I'm not sure how common that is yet.

@Mocheake

Despicable. Don't care about his age, think of these girls' age and the trauma they may have for a lifetime, especially when returning to that park or seeing (elderly) men. Throw the book at this molester POS.

Adults projecting the feelings of 'trauma' onto the situation doesn't set a good tone and can very well lead to real trauma. Even though this piece of x did what he did, my message to the children would not be to have them marinade in the event.

For children of this age saying something in the range like, 'what that old man did was wrong! You handled the situation perfectly! It was good of you to take care of it.' Then seeing their response and listening to how they talk about and process it is important.

Either these 2 have great instinct or an effective mama actually took the time to sit down and have 'bigger picture' talks.

Don't do it Japanese people! You will be in less control over your circumstances. In major economic, political, natural, or man made emergencies, you very well may be screwed. It may not be easy to have cash tucked away that you can get at to use as a life-line. That seems to be the case at least when I read up on Sweden. It's very INconvenient to use cash there. One's choice has virtually been cut to one.

Most of this push to convert is so big brother and banks can save money by not having distribute and track cash and government can tax it more effectively.

Don't you think banks will find more ways to charge you if you don't have cash as an option? What will you do when a major earthquake erupts, power goes out for a couple of weeks and access to cash is unavailable?

I sound like a nut, but we've seen in the past how fragile Japan really is and sooner or later in this generation or the next, disaster of some sort will strike. The question is will you be in a better position to act?

@ yildiray

Your BBC report recommendation on “Japan’s Secret shame" was very worthwhile. For those who haven't seen the video, have a look. Ms Ito comes across as a very open credible person.

It's easy to understand there are negative consequences for doing the wrong thing, but much later realized the evil created from there being negative consequences for doing the right thing. Kudos to you Ms Ito. I hope you do move from being a lone voice in the wilderness.

Thanks British Airways! It only would be fair if we paid higher fees for such nice things!!

Casey trying to get the ladies at work to notice he's the one making the mugicha and he's marriage material? r\niceguys?

In the real world, apologies = liability. Apologies that are not very carefully planned and coordinated (quietly, of course) are outright dangerous to countries, and a national leader who makes one without the most careful consideration of national interests (such as from the "goodness" of his heart) is little more than a traitor.

Since sometime after Koizumi, the news cycle seems to be gummed up with this apology issue. Post WWII Germany seems to have navigated those waters well. What kind of liability are we talking about?

I hope it's less about reaching a target market that maybe before didn't identify with this particular show and more about making real change.

Help educate me Japan:

Besides a loss of pride, what is the worst that can happen if Japan apologizes (again)? I never seem to read a news story which covers this topic.

"The Japanese operator of TOEIC said Tuesday it will not provide its English proficiency test as part of the country's standardized university entrance exam system due to start next April, because the process is too complicated."

Why isn't the process too complicated for the seven other private sector operators who are scheduled to be part of the system? TOEIC has been around so long, they have the budget for it, and they should know the ropes. It is a huge pile of money they are walking away from.

At least they want you to believe they are the ones who are making the choice to walk away and try not to lose face. Like some of the above comments, I agree TOEIC is an outmoded system even more so especially today with the way we use computers and smart phones to communicate. Some of what is on the TOEIC doesn't match what is happening in the business world. A lot of your English language textbooks probably have similar flaws.

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I don't even think Japan has a handle on this yet. Have any preventative actions been taken to head this off? If so where, how, and by which arm of society? We just keep reading about bleak futures.

I believe Ukraine is still trying to get their seamen and ship back from Russian held Crimea.

Not saying I might not feel a little anxious if I were the parents, but at any point was he told to cease?

Let's say for the sake of argument they were both 19, he was interested, but she wasn't and he wasn't aware of that and all other circumstances were the same. As no other facts were given could the police just come in and arrest the guy under that hypothetical?

While the food might be better in the 90s (can't really remember), but a mere 3% change in the price does not seem to be a valid reason for any loss in quality. That's like 1 year of inflation in other countries.

Blacklabel, I think there is a difference between speaking on the 4th of July and making the 4th of July about you and your agenda. It's a time for more or less neutral tones.

Brian, I hope you can be in the moment and find restfulness in the here and now. You are the most delicate of word smiths. You are loved.