Nippori Nick comments

Pretty low down to steal those apples.

But then again, apples in Japan are expensive, so I suppose some criminal type figures it was easy money.

That's a polite way of saving "Never".

Zero interest in staying there and I mean zero.

The Mrs would not sleep a wink.

Nippori - Something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. 

Well obviously that is the case. I was simply offering my opinion. You seem to agree yourself, so not sure why your phrased it this way.

It's going to be chaos like Y2K all over again

Not in my opinion, because when the clocks rolled over to year 2000, nothing happened.

With Brexit there will be a chain of real consequences, not just imaginary ones. And they won't be good (for the UK that is)

Not worth it.

but the husband, father and wage earner is a gambler whose 5 million yen debt burden makes the strictest economy necessary. 

Disgraceful.

. “All we do at home is sleep,” says mom, to all appearances aspiring to nothing more.

The correct word for her is lazy.

30,000 yen for that ? No thanks.

If you wore that as an adult outside of Japan you would be a laughing stock.

Save 21,000 yen and just put the shoes in the freezer overnight. Works!

Really. Last thing I want is a teenagers shoes smelling up the entire freezer. Yucko.

That looks terrible.

Come on. Osaka high on list of livable cities? That has to be some kind of joke.

I defy people to find 100 people in a year who upon visiting Osaka started thinking "What a great city, nice looking and pleasant. I would love to live here".

Look, I don't mind visiting the place but living there? It's a warren of concrete, wires and an architect or urban planners worst nightmare.

. I don't believe Trump was played; he knew North Korea would not live up to its end of the deal and the current events are proving him right.

He was played like a cheap fiddle

Once the US had the A-bomb there was the terrible pressure to use it. Germany and Japan would have had the same pressure to use the A-bomb if they had it.

It is self evident Germany would have used it if they had it. No doubt about it, absolutely none.

8800 yen? Not sure it even worth 1/2 that price. I don't predict a lot of sales.

To factchecker...the 2 were someone’s son and someone’s daughter. Possibly someone’s brother and sister. Does that mean nothing to you?

 Emperor Hirohito was just a figurehead, he had no power to stop the attacks on USA

If he had issued a proclamation in public that he was against it, you really think it would have happened? He had the power, he just decided not to use it

Most parts of the world a few days of illegal parking like that would end up with a tow truck coming and towing your car away. You would only get it back once you pay for the tow, impoundment charges etc. Mounts up very quickly, and you have no car till you pay them.

Are these kids fed those same high calorie meals the adult sumo wrestlers like to eat?

I mean when you are young and overweight like that, it does not bode well for a healthy life.

This is like the junk they sell at fairs in US/Canada...100% bad for you and almost ordered as a dare or a joke. I will be 100% avoiding this so called treat

Well, Britain certainly paid plenty in its blood to fight for Europe in two world wars. The gratitude from Merkel etc is overwhelming (sarcasm alert).

Considering Britain fought Germany in each war, I would not really expect a lot of gratitude.

2 years plus with 900 devices and no frauds is good enough an indicator for me to prove it works.

If a baseball player went up to bat 900 times over 2 years and did not get a hit that would be a valid test of his skills.

"at work" outdoors, perhaps? Anyway, had the weather on earlier and the lady was holding up a suitou and parasol, urging viewers to use them, as if we're 9. Maybe if you didn't infantilize your population since birth, they'd make wiser decisions on their own, without authorities dictating what should be common sense.

Don't fret--it's like that everywhere now. Example-in Canada telling people they should stay indoor with windchill in the -40C range or in summer don't stand under a big tree and watch the thunderstorms roll by. Much better to seek shelter.

Seems today people can't think...they hope there is an app for everything.

Brits are most un-European Europeans, They have never been a real part of Europe and by refusing the Euro they have made sure they do not become real part of it, 

Are Switzerland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Norway and Sweden European?

Most would say yes, but they don't use the Euro

Another neighbor described her as a “bold” woman.

Yeah, wow.

A very interesting story. Turbulent times indeed.

As least there are still pilgrimages (of a sort) to view cherry blossoms

PS-Is that the Original JR pass Chaplin had? Ha.

As if a block of ice like that would help.

I felt literally ill reading the story about the 1st grade student -how horrible for his family.

. And grown in Japan, super expensive Nation. Grapes will not be cheap, like in Western nations. 

My first thought is this post was in jest....surely, it was?

That's what you call a choke.

Don't feel bad. At least in Japan you only touch a screen.

Was with a senior citizen in a US grocery store that insisted on checking his ID when he bought a 6 pack of beer. He had a driver license from foreign country so the whole procedure took 15 minutes.

Complete nanny state nonsense.