Posted in: When danger strikes, how should foreign visitors to Japan be alerted? See in context
Totally unrelated, though, I wonder what happened in 1958 for it to be such a peak year for foreign tourists in Kyoto.
Roten, it was around that time that Kyoto forged Sister City ties with Paris, Boston, Cologne, Florence, Kiev, Xian, Guadalajara, Zagreb and Prague. My guess is that had something to do with the spike in visitors.
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Posted in: Trump tells prayer breakfast he wants to root out 'anti-Christian bias' and urges 'bring God back' See in context
Classic demagogue rhetoric. It is to America's everlasting discredit that so many of its people seem incapable of critical thinking, making them easy prey for this charlatan.
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Posted in: When danger strikes, how should foreign visitors to Japan be alerted? See in context
Roten@ I think you miss the point. If an unidentified random slasher is out and about, it's a sensible precaution to advise people to be on their guard. And until he's caught, assumptions of his motives and intended targets can be dangerous. Also, the authorities have an obligation to alert everyone, irrespective of nationality. Not to do so would be negligent and subject them to all kinds of criticism. Better to be safe than sorry, as they say.
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Posted in: Sapporo Snow Festival opens See in context
The Chinese tourists have already been in Sapporo from even before the Lunar New Year. And they will be there till Feb 12th when the Lantern Festival ends.
After having seen both, I'd say that China's International Snow & Ice Festival held in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, is considerably larger in scale and far more impressive.
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Posted in: 'Riviera of the Middle East' — Trump says he wants U.S. to take charge of Gaza Strip and redevelop it See in context
During his first term, Trump made the same proposal to North Korea, and look where that wound up.
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Posted in: Little-known porn 'white post' boxes fading into Japan's lurid past See in context
Remember the joke that went 新幹線は男か女か
男です。なぜか知ってる?
駅を飛ばす。
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Posted in: Little-known porn 'white post' boxes fading into Japan's lurid past See in context
As the ancient sage Mencius said over 2,000 years ago, "The philosopher Gao said, 'To enjoy food and delight in colours (i.e. sex) is natural. Benevolence is internal and not external; righteousness is external and not internal.'" This is usually just shortened to 食色性也 (shoku-shoku sei ya).
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Posted in: Crowds welcome sumo's newest grand champion in ancient ceremony See in context
One omission here that was in all the Japanese-language coverage is that Hoshoryu adopted the "Unryu-gata" ceremonial style, which begins with one arm extended and the other held across the chest, as opposed to the "Shiranui-gata" style, which is performed with both arms extended. (The above photo is a bit deceptive in this regard.)
Several of the past Mongolian Yokozuna adopted the Shiranui-gata, but Hoshoryu chose to adopt the same style as his uncle, Yokozuna Asashoryu.
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Posted in: Trump blames diversity hiring as probe into deadly midair collision begins See in context
Trump has been programmed so that if you stick a microphone in front of his face, he'll babble something offensive. And the media love him for it. This is why he dominates the news cycle.
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Posted in: PM Ishiba's quirkiness endears him to his home base See in context
"The best thing one can say about Ishiba-kun is that he never lies," said another.
If Ishiba called Aso a "nice man," he was lying.
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Posted in: Kurds living in Kawaguchi repeatedly find themselves in the news See in context
I got to meet a team of Kurds from "Warabistan" when a crew of them demolished my neighbor's house. It was backbreaking work in muggy summer weather, and I admired their diligence (and stamina). It's no easy thing to travel thousands of kilometers and set down roots in a foreign land, and I can't help but feel sympathetic. I sure wish the Kurds could work out some sort of modus vivendi with Turkey that would enable them to all get along, and enable the exiles to return (or at least the ones who want to go back).
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Posted in: Man who said he was stabbed by stranger admits wounding himself See in context
Actually such phony crimes are not uncommon, and there's a word for them in Japanese: 狂言犯罪 (kyogen hanzai). The most famous was about 20 years ago, when a man phoned the self defense force to claim he had seen North Korean frogmen storming ashore from a submarine at a beach near Yokosuka. The bill for the havoc he sowed was said to come to the tens of millions of yen.
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Posted in: Births in Japan likely to fall below 700,000 for 1st time in 2024 See in context
Wait until 2026, year of the Fire Horse. There's an old superstition that girls born in this year, which occurs every 60 years, are jinxed. The last year it happened, 1966, Japan's birth rate plummeted.
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Posted in: Japanese convenience store has tasty, diet-friendly meals, like these three under 500 calories See in context
Low calories aside, this appears to be a review of what is mostly high-sodium junk food.
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Posted in: Japan 2024 convenience stores sales at record high on inbound tourism See in context
A high portion of the merchandise at kombini are packaged as single-portion servings. This ties in closely with the demographic trend toward more single households -- both the young and the elderly -- living alone. These customers might be able to realize marginal savings by purchasing merchandise in larger volumes at supermarkets, but they know some of it would become stale or spoil before they finish consuming it. Kombini also realize profits because their product mix is constantly being re-evaluated and rationalized.
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Posted in: Musk raises eyebrows with salute gesture at Trump rally See in context
The LA-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, an organization of Holocaust survivors, posted these comments on its web site:
URL: https://www.wiesenthal.com/about/news/statement-from-the-simon-4.html
Elon Musk has become a prominent figure on the global stage, but his actions today at President Trump’s inauguration have raised serious concerns. His unexpected double salute, which resembled gestures associated with troubling historical connotations, is challenging to understand—especially as he has recently engaged with Germany’s domestic politics by seemingly supporting the AfD party, known for its far-right elements.
The Nazi salute, officially known as the “Hitler salute,” originated in Nazi Germany as a gesture of loyalty and obedience to Adolf Hitler and the ideals of the National Socialist Party. The Nazi salute was inspired by the ancient Roman salute, a gesture thought to symbolize strength and unity in classical antiquity.
Now, serving as a key member of the Trump administration, Mr. Musk has significant responsibilities and a new international platform. It would be appropriate for him to clarify or apologize for today’s gesture and focus his energy on tackling the critical challenges ahead.
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Posted in: Trump sworn in as 47th president, emboldened to reshape American institutions See in context
Trump answering more press questions in last 30 mins on every topic than Biden did in 4 years.
Depends on your definition of "answer." Even when reporters toss him softball questions, most of Trump's remarks come across as incoherent babbling.
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Posted in: Man arrested for assaulting woman walking her dog in front of his house See in context
The court should rule that the assailant's hand should serve a term in prison. The hand's owner can choose between accompanying his hand or not.
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Posted in: Many major Japanese firms pulling commercials from scandal-hit Fuji TV See in context
The Sankei Shimbun, the masthead publication of the Fuji-Sankei media group, is suspending publication of its evening tabloid Yukan Fuji at the end of January. It's obvious that the conservative-oriented company has been hurting financially, and if its TV network fails, the whole structure is likely to come tumbling down. There are some who wouldn't mind that at all.
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Posted in: Sumo to stage event in Paris as part of global push See in context
"Global push" seems appropriate, although it could also be a "global throw" or "global slapdown," depending on the sumo technique.
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Posted in: Osaka expo mascot See in context
One wag described the grotesque mascot Myaku-Myaku as resembling a hemorrhoid.
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Posted in: TikTok stops working for U.S. users, disappears from Apple, Google stores See in context
There's a certain irony when Tiktok invokes Americans' First Amendment's right to free speech when it's owned by a company based in China, whose citizens are blocked from viewing US media (Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, news sites, etc.) by its "Great Firewall."
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Posted in: Article calls for vigilance against off-the-wall conspiracies See in context
I don't think denial of anything should be a crime, and making it so sets a dangerous precedent.
From Wiki: Currently, 17 European countries, along with Canada and Israel, have laws in place that cover Holocaust denial as a punishable offence. Many countries also have broader laws that criminalise genocide denial as a whole, including that of the Holocaust. Among the countries that have banned Holocaust denial, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Russia have also banned Nazi symbols. Additionally, any expression of genocide justification is also a criminal offence in several countries, as is any attempt to portray Nazism in a positive light.
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Posted in: Great wave See in context
It's now on the back of the new ¥1,000 banknote introduced last year.
From the Japan Mint web site: The back depicts “Under the Great Wave off Kanagawa,” one of the most famous works by the ukiyo-e artist KATSUSHIKA Hokusai in Edo era, which is highly recognized and has influenced artists around the world.
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Posted in: Terunofuji retires, leaving sumo without yokozuna for first time in 30 years See in context
Yokozuna come on TV before the main bouts, entering the straw ring wearing a heavy white rope around their waists, stamping their feet and clapping their hands. I guess the fans feel they need traditional yokozuna dohyo-iri, but I find sumo exciting enough without depending on ceremonies or the presence/non-presence of any particular rank. Japan-born yokozuna have been in the minority as Mongolians like Asashoryu, Harumafuji, Hakuho and Terunofuji have domininated the sport for decades now and things have worked out all right.
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Posted in: Record 36.8 million tourists visited Japan in 2024 See in context
True, but most of its population can't rub two nickles together to make a dime let alone travel abroad
Depends on one's perspective. It has been observed that China's middle class, who are affluent, educated and able to afford foreign travel, outnumbers the entire population of the US.
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Posted in: Article calls for vigilance against off-the-wall conspiracies See in context
When political candidates for national office flaunt goofy stories (like immigrants eating cats and dogs in Ohio USA) that they cherry-picked from social media, you know the world is teetering on the precipice of something dreadful.
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Posted in: Record 36.8 million tourists visited Japan in 2024 See in context
It was observed decades ago that the travel pattern of most people was evolving into what Japanese call "an-kin-tan," i.e., cheap travel to nearby destinations and of short duration. This explains why China, S. Korea, Taiwan etc. account for most visitors. This is unlikely to change anytime soon.
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Posted in: Country star Carrie Underwood will perform at Trump's inauguration See in context
Bye-bye Miss American Pie...
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Posted in: Which U.S. companies are pulling back on diversity initiatives? See in context
I guess even billionaires can be obsequious sycophants.
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Posted in: Ishiba to pledge more LNG imports from U.S. in talks with Trump
Posted in: Man stabs himself after fatally stabbing wife
Posted in: Asian shares mixed as DeepSeek lifts Chinese tech stocks