Noripinhead comments

"Japan. Thank you."

doesn't really express the intended thought, does it? "Japan thanks you." would be more appropriate?

Another big one related to the absence of cellular networks: waiting for your date to arrive (sometimes for a very long time!)

"Gatekeeper"???- totally bizarre and creepy sounding. Do they want to alienate people even more? I can see how this came about: a bunch of old fogies were sitting in a room and thought, "How can we attract young people? Oh right! AKB48. That's the ticket! Any catch phrase that sounds like AKB48 will work wonders!"

The people who thought of this idea were obviously part of GBTDB48: Go Back To the Drawing Board 48! Absolutely brilliant - not!

Lovely.

Smokers can smoke all they want. The problem is secondhand smoke where you live - people smoke on the veranda or outside your genkan. And the air flow send the smoke right into your bedroom. Not a great way to greet the day.

--I suck in air when I'm embarrassed.

--I read the Japanese subtitles on English and American films.

--I drink "genki juices" on a regular basis.

--I make a salad for breakfast.

--I look forward to late night cooking shows.

--I have a hard time finding the quotation marks on an Western keyboard.

Times have certainly changed. Japan used to be the powerhouse of the region. I remember when people were saying, "China will be strong someday...but it'll be another 40 years at least." India wasn't even part of the discussion back then.

The problem is the ordinary Diet. What we need is an extraordinary Diet.

What is he thinking?

It's good to be the Emperor.

Seiji Ozawa is a living legend. One of the last great conductors still alive from the golden age of the 50s and 60s.

It's funny how all the college students are worried about being inconvenienced because it will affect their research for their papers. What ever happened to the good old method called "using the library"?

They make a good point. Nice protest. So today I won't be able to fulfill my desire to learn about the god Mitra.

OK, I answered my own question. They were ejected into space after comets and other things slammed into the surface of Mars. Violent place, this solar system.

Ask a stupid question: how did these "rocks from Mars" get off Mars and into space in the first place? Aren't these just remnants of material in space from when Mars was formed? Or were they launched into space from super-powerful volcanoes on Mars?

The reason Japanese comedy in the media is almost non-existent is that Japan itself is such a laugh-out-loud place. The really comedy is on the streets. Or on the trains. Or anywhere but the TV.

Oh, so those must be Pissed Tashios in the photo.

Does anyone remember Alta Vista? Long before Google hit the scene. I still use Yahoo. They defined the Internet in the 90s when people were still using Netscape.

Has anyone else mentioned DENTAL FLOSS! Outrageous in Japan. No wonder people have bad teeth.

It's too bad "Star Trek" Gene Roddenberry didn't live long enough to witness this (on Earth). But he is probably smiling in the heavens somewhere saying, "See, I told you so."

He's the Mayor of Aso City. 'Nuf said.

When are they going to announce the "Japan Best Narcissistic No-Talent Celebrity Awards"?

Why do I hear "Twilight Zone" music playing in background while reading this?

Sounds like Watership Down.

A dream to some. A nightmare to others.

The baby probably survived because of the soft soil and the vegetation on top of it, according to TV reports this morning. If he had landed on the concrete just a few meters to the side, his fate would have been very different. Lucky indeed. For the kid.

Ha ha ha. Thank you Japan Today for changing the headline right after smartacus and I mentioned "dog poop". I guess that'll draw more hits.

I'm sure the choice from Japan would have been Steve Jobs (since AKB48 and Nadeshiko Japan were never in the running). He seems to have quite a following here.

Actually, isn't Konishiki a naturalized Japanese now? So it's just another of example of two Japanese having an argument over some dog poop.

The hook has failed to work properly in test landings on carriers.

Just a minor glitch. The Eurofighter is looking better and better all the time.

Fascinating. Especially because the Eurofighter is a UK/Germany/Italy/Spain project, based on the German TKF-90 concept. The French are not part of this, they have a competing design.

Oh, mon mistake! But I see some similarity between the Eurofighter Typhoon and the French Mirage, which is another sexy plane.