Moonraker comments

I meant, China is the one to blame in any dispute with any other country. China is always to blame. Nobody believes otherwise.

It was China. It's always China. Nobody believes otherwise.

"unified" thoughts.

Bye bye Hong Kong. It was nice knowing you.

For deliberate targetting of the environment it is hard to go past the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam. If there were ever a crime of ecocide, that was the epitome.

No state can be considered peaceful if it relies of violence to uphold peace.

"Strict" can be presented as a concern for health but, of course, it is mainly a concern for boosting sales. But it is surprising to me how persuasive these dates are for many consumers. I mean, even beer in a can or bottle!

One question: was the "grilling" spontaneous? Or were the questions, and answers, prepared in advance, as is clearly mostly the case?

Could have been Pluto doing what dogs are wont to do.

derived from "star(s)," referring to current and prospective performers, and "to" in Japanese, which means "with,"

Sounds like the brainchild of a bunch of oyaji. So dull. I cannot believe that 140,000 suggestions produced this. Still, this is the company of Sexy Zone for a bunch of pubescent boys.

Maybe she is trying to say that she felt life had never really been her own. She was previously pressured by her parents into the tennis world. When you feel no autonomy you are prone to depression. She has struggled to become autonomous but still cannot overcome the feeling that life is not really her own so, now she has a daughter, she can exchange motherly duty for parental pressure. Will it work? I don't suppose her struggle - and even solution - is much different to many others, it's just that they don't have to endure in the spotlight but don't have the money for therapy either.

It would be truly fascinating to test those, so far, 18 people who downvoted "I think you will find that very little about WWII is "well known in Japan," except the conclusion," to even see what they really know just about the facts. As for their opinion, well, once again it is not presented here. Strangely.

is well known in Japan.

I think you will find that very little about WWII is "well known in Japan," except the conclusion. In fact, in my 40 years here less and less is actually known while the official narrative to bolster the post-war notion of Japan as inherently peaceful becomes more and more disseminated.

Sounds terribly convenient to power to have a thin-skinned political system off limits to humour. I would expect little else though.

But how does this compare to other jobs?

I don't think Kishida has really gone anywhere, kurispisu. He is still PM. He just stepped down as faction leader, which had not done before and which PMs usually do.

Is it time to call for snap election?

Would it make any difference? I guarantee the LDP would get back in since the opposition is in perpetual disarray, the electorates are gerrymandered and the whole bureaucratic and industrial system rather likes having the LDP as the only party it has to deal with.

So far 17 keep the faith. I think that tells us something.

Perhaps you could upvote if you think nothing will come of this and downvote if you still have faith in the system to root out political corruption.

Didn't they make the Pearl Harbor site a World Heritage Site yet? Maybe Japan would be interested in sponsoring it to show its embrace of peace.

Well, China for one would have been glad to see poor, old Japan goaded/tricked into war with the US, if such a narrative is really the reason for Pearl Harbor, especially after Japan tricked its way into war with China. I wouldn't be surprised that this doesn't come into the school curriculum though.

I think it is all emblematic of the complete intellectual bankruptcy of the LDP. They have rarely had to defend themselves, their policies, their existence and so they are completely unable to do so. They just work in the shadows, covertly, to head off dissent and opposition. That's all. It's sheer contempt.

Two years ago, survivors who attended the 80th anniversary remembrance ceremony ranged in age from 97 to 103. They'll be even older this time.

Really?

Trump's absence deprived them of an opportunity to confront him face to face and again sent the message he deems his challengers unworthy of his attention.

And that the voters are beneath his contempt. But they are too dumb to notice.

So if you are a parent reading this, don't worry about it. It will all be okay if you keep quiet and never let your child enter Japan on anything but a Japanese passport.

Yes, DirkT, I believe you are right for now. But governments are increasingly in the habit of snitching on their own citizens to other governments over all kinds of things - I have no doubts the comprehensive fingerprints I once had to provide in Australia (not for any crime, I hasten to add) were shared with plenty of other "allies" - as the net tightens around us all. Better if our kids had full rights. They are likely a superior future than anything the moribund government has in mind for Japan.

My fear is that they will be considered classics.

It's so sad for the boy.

Nobody arrested him for war crimes?

Who are these people that don't believe the LDP has contempt for the voters? I mean to say, their moral jeopardy has been on display for decades because people vote for them whatever they do wrong, yet people who suggest this are always voted down every time. Clearly, the downvoters have no case to make because they never make one.

You'd think by now that Japan would be doing all it could not to reject young (talented) dual nationals but no. I mean, they even have some of the lauded Japanese genes for whatever!!

One step forward, two steps back.