No Miso comments

Should Japan continue to use nuclear energy when it failed to build safe nuclear power plants?

I'd only partially agree with that. I'd say that they failed to operate them safely. Might sound petty, but I think a lot more could have been done on March 11-15 IF they put emergency generating capacity at a higher level (roof, etc) and IF they had retained power. I know it sounds like a weak argument, but so much more if they had just put those generators up higher.

Too much % and not enough numbers making this unreadable. If Honda sales jumped 211% that could be a move from just 100 cars to 211 cars. Quite small. Hyundai is 1% down, but 1% of what?

It's the driver NOT the car! I would put my "K" up against just about any production car on the line today in a quarter mile test of speed. I will also add that mine is a production model without any added enhancements.

Correct - lightweight, so doesn't need so much power - if only all cars were engineered so.

Why not go for a tax system like UK where the amount of CO2 produced is the metric used for taxation. It has accelerated development to more fuel efficient cars and those people who want to drive a 6 litre gas guzzler pay more than the 1.2 litre petrol sipper. This seems fair to me. However don't forget that this initiative may be to appease the US in TPP negotiations who claim they Japanese market is closed because of the favouritism on kei car taxes. They could make kei cars themselves, but as the unit cost is relatively low, not too much profit to be had.

My friend in america asked me about this and I made a video challenging the myth....

Full marks for trying the language, and I hate to criticize when anyone tries to communicate in another language, but sadly have to agree with Probie. The staff's reaction was more of "What is he trying to say??"

@DudDeuce

She's going to really have to work hard if she wants to be successful with Broadway. She won't be able to be able to rely on being "ハーフ" and having a filthy rich daddy this time around.

She has a goal and a dream (read the article) and she is going to chase it. Good luck to her.

＞ The Japanese are among the world's most well educated and wealthy people. They have the largest circulation newspapers in the world.

Hmm, but Japanese education is all about reading and learning "facts" and not too much about getting out there and finding things for yourself (based on me watching my two kids in the Japanese system), this continues in later life as people read sensationalist newspapers and think that they are reporting facts. They just don't know any better, if they did, you could argue it is prejudice.

@papigiulio

Im not a haafu so I cant really know what they are feeling, but I think they shouldnt be so negative.

Er, I think the good work his project has done has pointed out that it might not be them that is being negative - they are reacting to others treatment of them. Posted something similar on a different thread that this is mainly ignorance, and can be resolved by education. A very "sensational" media machine doesn't help, and nether do the Hafu tarento who tend to be seen or portrayed as amusing, and very rarely intelligent.

@JSTOKYO

Not sure this is true, since the likes of Ishihara and Hashimoto have held considerable power and support.

Got me there, agree that these chaps are very pro Japan, but I don't think they are in the same league of racists alongside UKIP. Moreover, Ishihara was the guy who brought the Tokyo marathon to town, and all of the foreigners that this brings as well. He knows that there is money to be had from opening up, and has exploited the opportunity.

if you are basing your opinion on this one interaction you had with a Japanese guy at a bar in Shibuya while you were out drinking.

You may have missed Ausieboy's point here, to me it looks like he is pointing out that a few bad interactions shouldn't tar the whole population which is what many posters SEEM to be doing. Look at CanadianJapan's post as one example of someone who really doesn't understand what is happening around him.

.

I think the key for me is hate driven racism - of which I find VERY little in Japan. The rest I would put down to ignorance (in the politest sense) which can usually be resolved by education AND people like us flying the flag of "goodness" to prove that we aren't all that bad after all.

Interesting debate. For me, I encounter all kinds of stuff, and most of it makes me laugh. Technically, Japan is very isolated as not that many people speak foreign languages well enough to understand what happens overseas, and many people (not everyone, and probably not the majority) will tag on to articles in cheap Japanese newspapers that target Japan-Good, Foreign=Not so good style messages. In the few decades I have been here, I have seen a reduction in hate style racism, and relatively no change in the passive racism. But then I compare to the UK, and political parties like UKIP, NF and other groups that actually have a chance of getting some power thanks to an evolving hatred of immigrants into the UK. It is really ugly, and gets worse each year. I don't see that style gaining momentum here just yet.

Increasing aid package 3-fold shows that initial announcement of "10 million" WAS silly.

Yep, like you or me donating to any charity or good cause and saying that's it, I'm done - never doing that again, right? Wrong, it was always just an initial pledge to get stuff moving, as evidenced here.

Aso vows crackdown on mob loans after Mizuho chief testifies in Diet

I can't wait for the follow up to this one. Almost as good as Koizumi's Nuclear Zero Japan, after he insisted it was necessary!! I Love Politicians!!! So topical, so predicitable.

It is untrue! It is depending on where you have lived before. You can not ask homeless people from Fukushima to donate some money for Typoon victims of Phillipines.

Zenpun, you are waaaaaay off the pace IMvHO - the people affected by disasters know first hand how it feels and actually go out of their way to offer whatever they can. You would be surprised what humanity can achieve, there is a hell of a lot of good out there.

The police must apply to the courts for permission to monitor communications – a limited safeguard at best, says Kaido, given that the courts approve, literally, 100% of all such applications. “The courts have never,” he says, “turned down an application.”

The answer for this is very clear if the article was written correctly - “The courts never,” he says, “turned down either of the applications.” !

Jeez guys, its a start. No-one really knows the size of the issue yet, bodies are still being counted. This money is a first step to get things under way, more support will follow.

I went to Avis self drive rent-a-car and the one I had did absolutely NOTHING by itself. I had to do all the driving. Pathetic.

@spuds - some more info :Nissan provide OEM cars to Renault for resale under the Renault Brand. Don't think it happens the other way around. Something to do with quality I thought. Can't think of many cars with the Maryland brand. Toyota are excellent at applying forward thinking into practical everyday cars, and people buy them. GM, Ford, etc rely on patriotism for their sales. Guess who builds the better cars?

How can I enter these competitions?

Pretty awful article, it is sneering and I don't think it paints a completely accurate picture of the amount of good stuff that gets done. I do agree that it is important to get an understanding of the goal first, and local agreement, before embarking on any project. The time for huge numbers of volunteers to help cleanup I think has passed, and rebuilding is now the work in progress. As kind hearted as it is for volunteers to queue up to help out with projects here and there, PLEASE make sure that you are not taking a job from a local builder, etc, who may be having a hard time re-establishing their business due to the huge amount of free labour. Also, when you are there, find the local shop run by locals to buy your daily goods and spend lots there. Get their economy going again (please).

And for those that say: "go to a Starbucks, invite someone for coffee", "play sports". etc, they don't know what they are talking about, because they don't know what does it mean to be socially awkward,

Agree entirely. But just to clarify, people who sit next to you in starbucks and start talking unannounced are actually socially awkward. I think the correct term is annoying!

Cool !

I paid for a girl to spend time with me when I was in Japan. I went into a massage parlour and paid the girl 6000 Yen to talk with me for 45 minutes. I told her I dont want a massage (I dont like massages), but I just felt I wanted to talk and I had 4 hours to kill before I was to meet my girlfriend. When I met my girlfriend afterward, I was less frustrated when around her, as a result. So, it was worth it. In Toronto, I have paid about 30 women to spend time with me. I think it is cheaper than traditional dating and relationships.

You clearly went to a place where you knew that you would find people capable of listening with empathy, and understanding your needs and concerns. I would say "admirable", except the fact that you need to pay people to listen to you might just be a slight cause for concern.

“I wanted to directly tell the emperor of the current situation,”

="I knew it would cause a mini media storm and saw it an absolutely ideal chance to generate some publicity. The Emperor has his finger on the pulse of the nation and if anyone can bring about a change in the way things are, it is him - so I took the opportunity"

“Don’t suddenly hit him with the fact that you’re ready to end the relationship,” advises psychologist Masashi Usui. “Broach the matter gently, preferably by telephone. If his manner becomes threatening, get a friend or family member to intervene.”

Absolutely! What a ridiculous statement, does anyone dump without at least thinking about it, and at least giving some indications that there is an issue with the relationship? Or are we talking about one-night-stand relationships where there is little "relationship" to break in the first place?

If you let a government tax you, they will, without abandon. I have refused to pay taxes to my government for 3 years. I no longer will support their mafiaso style dictatorship of my life. The revenue division of my state has sent me threatening letters and implored me to pay, but I have told them that I dont recognize their natural right to confiscate my property, and therefore, I will not willfully hand over such property to them. If eveyone simply said 'No.' - as I have - the state would lose its power in 1 day. It is the tendency of those around us to remain silent that allows state actors to steal and pilage the general population.

I wonder who built your roads and which school you went to? I wonder who regulated the medical industry to ensure that the medicines you take when you get ill are safe to take? It is interesting that you have just documented that you are a criminal and really don't seem to care. Luckily I think you are in the minority, otherwise we would be living in what is known as anarchy, which has some parallels to a Republican ideal! Admire your openness.

＞What did Obama say again about the late Steve Jobs? You didn't build that therefore, he built apple with an entire community therefore everyone that helped get apple off the ground needs to get credit. You have to apply this concept on every business, NO one did anything on their own in the private sector. No one is special. We need to earn the same amount of money, rich people are bad by default.

As much as you talk about people having "typical" socialist views, I'd put yours at the extreme end of capitalism. Using your perfect example of Mr Steve Jobs and Apple. Did you know he had an absolutely amazing yacht commissioned? Sadly (and I mean that sincerely) he never got to enjoy it as he died way too young, but to your point about everyone at Apple getting credit, I agree, it should be everyone from Mr Jobs right down to the cleaners at the factories in China that pumped out the 3-4 million 5C's and 5Ss sold in the last few months? Did everyone get their fair share of the benefits? Why where the units even built in China (re your point " Instead of creating jobs in the private sector that can generate growth and revenue for the country and people, because government can't create jobs.")??

And thats even before we start asking the question of whether Apple is paying its fair share of Tax in each of the countries it sells in (note I say "fair" and not "illegal avoidance" - quite different things.

Agreed. Disgraceful. These people worked hard and paid fair and square tax on the money as they did so - this is just a greed grab, Shame.

But if you think about it, the money was earned by someone who is dead, the family don't have any "right" to earn it from the deceased. If he/she was living, they would only be able to transfer 380,000yen per year tax free, why should that change just because they died?

EU has ranked the Prius as a 5 star (top rated) and uses a similar (to my eyes) offset crash test. Wonder why the results are so different? http://www.euroncap.com/results/toyota/prius.aspx

This is basically American car-makers throwing a temper tantrum.

Camry is made in US.

Utterly sick.