MottoMatto comments

Getting your leg stuck in the gap between the train and the platform can happen even without being drunk or rushing. I was with my friend at Harajuku station once, and when we went to step onto the train she grabbed my arm suddenly. I lost my balance and one leg fell right through the gap while the other was sprawled on the platform. The "doors closing" sound started to ring, but lucking I managed to get back up in time and safely get on the train. Needless to say, images of a life in a wheelchair were flashing through my brain.

Looks like I'll be stuck with Google's browser-based maps for a while after upgrading my personal phone ...

I'm sure Google will release a Maps app for iOS 6. Just means you'll have to download it from iTunes since it won't be on the home screen anymore. That is, if Apple doesn't block it for some made-up reasons.

@shinkansenjp, I googled "Here We Are". Is that the name of a charity? Or do you mean "we" literally? If you could tell me the web address that would be great. The company is in America, so we need to be able to ship to a charity or group that is already handing things like this out. Thank you for your help.

@ saborichan Are they collecting items or only cash donations? My company is a game publisher. I would love to donate some copies of our games to these families. If anyone knows any charities I can connect with to send games, please reply to me. Thanks!

Insurgents have slowly been filtering back into Afghanistan from safe havens in Pakistan as the spring fighting season gets under way.

Gosh, they make insurgency sound like baseball teams doing warmup practice in Florida. What's next? Fantasy terrorism leagues?

Bunting spent a good year and a half literally drinking Japan.

I think this applies to 90% of foreigners who spend a year and a half in Japan.

@ elbudamexicano You're right. I don't think you can even get from downtown to Santa Monica in 2 hours if it's rush hour.

I'm interested to hear what people who've seen this movie think about it. From the trailer, it looks terribly pointless and boring.

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." Oh wait, maybe in Roppongi...

What's next? A 0 calorie Big Mac? Only if it's made out of paper...

@bobbafett Are you a guy or a girl? Because honestly if you're a girl with the name bobbafett I'd try to add you, too. Haha.

But seriously, I use Facebook ads all the time and they are great for targeting specific markets of users. Let's say you want to sell something to married men ages 21 - 24 who live in Vermont and like power boating. Facebook can offer that. Google can't.

the United States “has looked the other way for far too long as Hugo Chavez destroyed democratic institutions.”

Hmmm, couldn't this be said about the world towards the U.S. government?

Kinda like the Pirates of Silicon Valley is not about Apple and Microsoft but the backstabbings in the creation of them.

Pirates of Silicon Vally is an excellent movie. I convinced my wife to watch it even though she was not even remotely interested in "the nerds at Microsoft and Apple." But by the end she loved it. It is not an overly nerdy movie nor is it really about computers. It is much more about human relationships and morality and manages to be both funny and touching.

I haven't seen The Social Network but many people seemed to have liked it, so I will probably get around to it soon enough. Hopefully it is as good as Pirates.

If the internet isn't that important to you, I'll happily take your job.

“We only use Australian beef,” says Satoshi Ueda, operating partner of the Outback Steakhouse chain in Japan. “We used to use U.S. beef, but switched to Australian after the BSE outbreak because consumers were concerned.” Ueda hints, however, that this policy is not permanent: “We are considering using U.S. beef again in the future. U.S. beef has more marbling and tenderness, whereas Australian beef is a redder meat that is a little tougher. Some customers prefer U.S. beef, and some prefer Australian.”

Outback steakhouse is an American-owned, Australian-themed restauarant.

The fact that they can't make up their minds which beef to use only adds to the confusion. I always found it hilarious that they sell deep-fried 'blooming onions' as if they're some kind of Aussie specialty.

I think I'll open up a Texas Roadhouse in Sydney and import lamb from New Zealand.

He was only in the movie because his parents produced it. And he will only ever make it in Hollywood because his dad was Fresh Prince. Same goes for his wife.

You can also send paperless faxes via Skype. I think you need a plug-in though.

I used to live in Hirakata and would bike along the Yodogawa to Osaka. It was a nice ride except for the stupid motorbike barriers every 100 yards or so.

As for being stopped for ID, it never happened to me in Osaka in 3 years. But my friend living in Seiseki-Sakuragaoka (outside Tokyo) complained that the cops used to stop him constantly. Sure enough, I visited him one time and these two jerk cops on their bicycles saw us standing outside the mall and turned around and rode back with these big smirks. They came up and demanded to see our ID's. We were just chatting outside the local department store and we weren't even riding bicycles. For the record, we are both white so it must not always be about skin color. I guess it just depends on what area you're in and if the local cops are racist or not. Although I do agree that black people are looked down upon more than whites.

There's nothing wrong with being on the phone on a train as long as you aren't loud and obnoxious. What annoys me most is when a group of high schoolers go on and on about who they're dating. That gets really loud, much louder than someone who keeps a phone conversation at a normal level. In Australia and the States, using phones on the train is normal and I can tell you there are certainly more annoying people on the train.

I love how the manager's complaint focuses on 'foreign' workers rather than 'religious' workers. These could very well have been Muslim Japanese, and then how would he structure his complaint? I'm not a fan of Islam at all, but if these workers already negotiated the breaks into their work schedule, then there is no crime here. Like tokyotales said, it all comes down to management not planning the proper resources and manpower to get the job done on time. So the workers are asked to 'take one for the team'. I look forward to the day when Japanese companies start valuing efficiency in work and everybody can go home by 6pm.

"Pakkun" may not be the best actor, but I don't suppose he's the worst either.

You sound like you like the attention. Anyway, I don't think women have any "harder" of a time cheating on or with married men.

who cares about the dollar's value, who cares about the "economy" of america. basically, the government and big business need to quit screwing over the average joe. it's no news to europe or the rest of the world. i'm american and i'm tired of having this crap shoved in my face the same as everyone else. the number of jobs lost, the amount of increasing debt. you can get people worked up over anything with the right words and dress. basically, we need to quit thinking about "america" and start thinking about people and making things better for everyone.

yes, the article is definitely vague and possibly even misleading. but i don't think that is because of this site's writing. i think it is part of the way of thinking of many people in this country. basically, you've got a whole bunch of homeless people in one place which represents a real problem. in an ideal society, you can't have problems, so you need to blame it on someone or something. so yes, perhaps some of these organizations are taking advantage of people. but even the ones that aren't screwing homeless people and/or society over will take a beating because many ordinary citizens would rather take this situation and throw it in a box than think about dealing with it.

first, they get rid of beer vending machines in tokyo, now the seedy night life. just another reason why kansai is more fun.

i for one love tokyo tower. sure, it's a ripoff. but i live in osaka, and at least we have osaka castle here. tokyo would be without any defining architectural landmarks without it.....