Nippori Nick comments

I am very suspicious of these urban monks in upscale shopping areas.

Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi were the only 3 states studied?

The residents of those states have terrible obesity problems, many are not well educated and many are poor.

How about studying these results in other parts of the world. I am sure the results would differ.

Good for her deciding not to pay for it.

Either way, taxpayers pay for it. It's just a heads I win, tails you lose situation at best.

You think so? Please give me a data of how many percent of Japanese citizen voted this pass election?

Red Herring. If you don't bother to vote and officials are elected, no use crying about it later saying they don't represent you. People have to get off their chairs and vote if they want democratically elected officials.

Teams should just turn their backs on this ritual dance ..not even look them and turn backwards.

The Japanese government don't represent the people

Actually it does. That is the point of government. Elected officials to represent the people.

Always amusing that cities and businesses want your money...they just dont want you!

I avoid Kyoto..it , to me, is no fun at all.

The leadership has held the country together through out the strain. How many other countries can we say of the same ?

Cuba?

What a scum. If I were the judge he would be given a head butt of a prison sentence.

Brace yourselves for the arrogant headlines from the English media... They make the Japanese media look decent.

Winners get to crow. Losers get to sulk and squawk.

I guess she is hanging out.

My thoughts are the picture is degrading to some degree and inane.

Why would anyone try to drive through a street inundated like that?

You would have to pretty dense not to know the words to your own country's national anthem. (assuming it has not been changed in the recent past to a new one)

> I hate all national anthems and refuse to stand for them.

Hmm, in some parts of the world you would likely get a beating for that. Whether I agree of disagree with anthem, I think out of common respect one should stand.

I have never had a non alcoholic beer that tasted anything like beer. They are all nasty beverages and this sounds like a bad chemistry experiment.

As with everything about the west, an utter joke.

Man I have heard some broad statements in my life, but this one takes the cake. How on earth do you jump from story 1 (Brexit issues) to concluding everything in the west is a joke?

They sure pack them in tight in there...maybe time to get a bigger room.

Conservatives let people don what they want

Assuming you are talking about US conservatives sure, do what you want, ummm unless those things include items such as freedom of choice in sexual matters, freedom of choice on where you can travel to (Cuba as one example), There's a long, long list of things conservatives don't want people to do.

The Majority of Canadians voted against this man. He should not be PM.

Once again, the will of the people is rejected and a result they did not want is being shoved down their throats.

The logical conclusion then is that Trump should step down as the majority of Americans did not vote for him.

Is that your position?

Is this a Japanese only bar? If so, i guess I will not get admittance.

Most of the champion runners train in Africa, which is real hot.

I can tell you have not been to Africa. It's a myth that Africa is really hot

Best Marathoners are from Kenya

The capital, Nairobi, is located near the Equator, at 1,600 meters (5,250 feet) above sea level. The altitude makes daytime temperatures pleasant, while keeping nights cool. Highs hover around 21/22 °C (70/72 °F) in the coolest months (June, July and August) and around 25/26 °C (77/79 °F) in the warmest months (January, February and March), while lows drop to around 10/11 °C (50/52 °F) from June to September and go up to 12/14 °C (54/57 °F)

Depends on how late the trains run and what time they start.

Right in the article it is states:

 last train of the evening rolls by at 11:46 p.m. And when you wake in the morning, hopefully after the first train of the day at 5:42 a.m.,

That is quite the cost, considering you can view cherry blossoms for free.

Does not sound like restful sleep at all. Would never pick this place.

The only disappointment is Sapporo absolutely should also be in world Top 10.

How much travel have you done outside Japan? Sapporo? Top 10 in the world (outside USA)? You have to be kidding me.

I never look at e mails on my days off. They stay on the company provided laptop only.

Out of interest I once worked for a US company that , by policy, said every employee had to take 2 weeks off continuous vacation and during that time period not access any company computers, websites, phones or similar. It was a fraud prevention technique and even the big execs had to follow it. Loved that policy.

What a tempest in a teapot...you try to help some people and then get abuse .

But higher than Germany's, Spain's, Singapore's, Thailand's, and a bunch of others.

But still 20th from the bottom.

But for info Canada has zero day of paternity leave. I know it I had tweens there.

That is incorrect. They had paternity leave over 20 years ago. I know a number of males who took it.

However, the real focus here is Japan and Japanese law and should one be fired for exercising your rights under the law.

How many times can one call wolf?

Marriage throughout the ages has been between a man and woman

Going forward, I see no reason to change something that isnt broken

It is broken. Maybe if you widens your horizons you could see that.