Nocturnalux comments

This is both silly and sad. No student should ever be forced to dye their hair any color whatsoever, never, ever.

What would these geniuses behind this rule think if their child went to, say, a Nordic country for an exchange program and was forced to dye their hair blonde/fair? They'd have a fit, as they should.

I wonder how do albino children fare? Are they forced to dye their whitish hair black because somehow it is offensive to the majority and shows they have no desire to conform?

What a joke.

This kind of behavior is absolutely disgraceful and makes me wonder how these people are in real life. They must have serious issues if seeing different people starring on movies gets them this upset. I also find it amusing how they entirely fail at empathy, the thought that entire groups were virtually erased from fiction for decades on end does not seem to occur to them; instead they are absurdly angry over the fact that the spotlight is now shared with others.

Japan has a terrible version of this, too; virtually everything about otaku culture being a terrifying example of this.

This is the best news I have read in a while. I'm afraid I had given up on this boy being found alive, it is wonderful that I made it through this horrible ordeal.

But I have to wonder if he should have been given back to his parents who are very much to blame for this incident.

Hirai reportedly told police at the time that he wanted to be reborn as “part of pavement in the next life.”

Words fail me, really. But in all seriousness, this man has some serious, serious issues. With so much porn readily and legally available, why on Earth would anyone squeeze himself into a tiny space for hours on end with the forlorn and disturbing aim of taking pantyshots? And it's not even a one time offense either, which would have been already strange, it's a repeated case.

He needs some therapy.

Here is the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNRwCcLjo3I

Speaking about the teachers and their role, in this documentary no-one addresses that. It surprised me greatly, from the best friend of the victim to the victim's parents, they all seemed to think that dialogue between the kids is the key to keeping bullying from snowballing into suicide. But given how pernacious bullies are and how authority figures tolerate- if not actively promote- the cycle of abuse, such a naive solution is not likely to go anywhere.

It is true that bullying occurs a bit all over but there is a crucial difference in a society that does not give the children any protection at all. Japanese kids who complain to teachers (and they rarely do) are often told that if they are bullied it is their fault for not fitting in. So the school itself is reinforcing the bullies which makes for added pressue. No wonder so many young people cannot take it.

I remember watching an NHK documentary about a 14 year old boy who killed himself over bullying and it was truly a sobering experience.

It was chilling in many ways, perhaps the most disturbing part was a study that shows that children are less prone to try and stop acts of bullying as they grow older. So while in elementary school quite a few will try and put an end to it, over 90% of high schoolers will just turn a blind eye. And it is obvious that these kids will not stop their ways once they enter society, they are likely to become adults who will inforce the cycle of abuse all over again as soon as they are able.

Japan most definitely has a problem with this and South Korea is even worse, with the highest suicide rate in the whole OCDE.

Chinese men were used for bayonet practice and in decapitation contests and many thousands women were raped. Many Japanese soldiers went beyond rape to disembowel women, slice off their breasts, nail them alive to walls. Fathers were forced to rape their daughters, and sons their mothers, as other family members watched. Not only did live burials, castration, the carving of organs, and the roasting of people become routine, but more diabolical tortures were practiced. So sickening was the spectacle that even the Nazis in the city were horrified. No wonder these lawmakers still go to Yasukuni.

This, so much. The subject of comfort women is still a hot button. Watch any Korean news outlet and you will see it over and over again, survivors now in their 90's pleading for a sign of contrition on Japan's part for what they suffered at the hands of the Imperial Army and time and time again they are systematically ignored. How can Japan possibly have an actual dialogue with its neighbors with an attitude like this? True, Korea is now a free and independent country but it is impossible to just forget all the horrors it had to endure. This whole deal with the shrine goes much, much deeper than simply paying the respects for the felled in war, it is a celebration of war criminals who gleefuly murdered untold numbers of people. That it was all done in the name of Japan and the Emperor does not make them 'patriotic', it makes them criminals motivated mostly by nationalistic ideals.

For those who say that the war was a long time ago, that only means that over decades Japan has missed the opportunity of owning up to its horrendous crimes. The inhuman levels of depravity to which the Japanese Imperial Army stooped too was such that to this day it remains one of the worst cases of human rights' abuse ever known.

I'll be celebrating by watching the first Eva episode again. I rewatch the series ever so often, might as well do it now.

Taiji would be better off reinventing itself as a centre for whale-watching and swimming with dolphins.

This is a great idea. They could make a super cute dolphin character as the town-s mascot while they are at it. And maybe try to contact KyoAni and see if they can get them to produce a Free! OVA featuring Taiji.

Same sex marriage is indeed unconstitutional, ruled out by Article 4 that defines legal marriage as being exclusively between a male and a female partner. Of course, the constitution can be altered but as things now stand it is impossible to legalize same sex marriage.

As to whether the country is ready to accept such unions as valid, I very much doubt it. And I consume oodles of yaoi and yuri manga myself but I hold no illusions as to what the Zeitgeist is when it comes to acceptance of real, flesh and blood gay individuals. For one, marriage as a whole is still viewed as a traditional structure for the rearing of children and needless to say that those to see things on such terms are not exactly tolerant of the many ways gay people have of conceiving. And considering the problem Japan is facing with its low birthrate I hardly think that there will be a great push to legalize a kind of marriage that according to most leads to no reproduction.

With that said, it is entirely possible to legalizing it will show people the validity of same sex unions. Waiting until people come around will take too long while legalizing can speed up the process considerably. It's a matter of basic rights, I say legalize it. It may take years until it becomes accepted even once it is legalized but it may take decades for that to happen if it is not legalized.