OriginalOne comments

Expos? The world still does that? I wasn't even alive when expos were still a thing.

I adore this area of Osaka as I stay in this part usually. A lot of character and the prices are very reasonable. I just don't want to see it gentrified as that would take away the hardscrabble look and feel of the place.

@kurisupisu

Having driven in both southern Europe and SE Asia, there are marked differences in the road conditions AND traffic congestion between both. Just a comparison off the top of my head. Maybe more cup and bottle holders, a possible mini-fridge for those insane traffic jams in Jakarta, better suspension for those potholes in Myanmar, a currency holder for the toll roads in the Philippines...the unsaid possibilities are endless, just need to use one's imagination.

Oh just skip the formalities and hedging already. Based on the last 20 years or so these so-called trade agreements will kowtow to China because it's always profit before international security and intellectual property rights. Major international business conglomerates will always sell out their respective countries and free citizenry for dictatorial communist investment.

South Africa...an Asia Cup Champion? I must've slept through Geography or something. Kinda like Australia and Israel being competitors in Eurovision I guess.

Negative...just NEG-A-TIVE!!! Wild horses couldn't drag me to eat this abomination.

@theFu - They did that with the Philippines winning the case but Beijing conveniently doesn't recognize the ruling. Yup, that's what adults do and the PRC chooses to be a child about it where everything is "MINE!!!"

Do they speak at least conversational English? My minimal Japanese skills is atrocious at best.

Where's the ICOCA statue in Osaka? LOL

At least one worldwide governing body of a sport has displayed sanity in this regard. If identity politics continue to prevail over common sense then I guess all of those East German/Soviet bloc athletes of obvious transgendered yet never openly admitted status back in the 70s and 80s Olympic Games should get their medals and/or records reinstated! For a laugh, watch the "Heather Swanson" character from one of the episodes of South Park. It just shows the sheer idiocy of having transgendered athletes compete against biological females.

I guess Japan could take a cue from this...

What? No US participation?

They tried this restrictive approach in Thailand...in short, didn't work.

I thought Hawaiian Airlines was the world’s best in on-time performance.

Mr. Kipling…

Where exactly is the scientific data to back this up? So far the international community is still waiting for honest independent results. Also, in true pro-CCP fashion, trying to squelch a dissenting opinion is something that is of paramount importance as Communist China is always above reproach to you people, right?! Again, for the umpteenth time, I happen to BE Chinese who just happens to never believe in the lies propagated by the CCP. So not anti-China just anti-CCP.

Sounds like the Costco breakup phenomenon here in Hawaii from a few years back. Our lovely local warehouse big box store was the site of many a tearful breakup by the snack bar. Ah the funny memories LOL!

This is great news! But why China, with its zero effectiveness Sinovac and Sinopharm placebo vaccines? Sounds like money not real medicine is the qualifier here!

It's been a while but I can't help but wonder if Japan (and South Korea) still have a lower payscale for non-White native-level English teachers? That has always been my primary deterrent to applying for a teaching position there or South Korea. Not playing the race card or anything but I would like to be paid the same amount for the equivalent workrate of my White colleagues. I just laugh thinking of a hypothetical job interview between White teaching candidates that are Glaswegian, hillbilly American, or Bush Australian! LOL!

"...aimed at tourists..." When exactly will THAT happen?

Can't help but wonder if the actress named "Nami" is the currently-on-hiatus AV actress, Namiki Touko? The first four letters of the pseudonym, her age, the amount of works and the fact that she is now telling her fans on Twitter that she is married kinda points to her. She's cool when engaging with her fans on Twitter and I wholeheartedly congratulated her when she made her announcement about slowing things down and doing only "pink" films primarily now. She did a lot of daring things in her movies which no doubt would've bothered her husband but I respect her choices and she laughed when I said that I was jealous of her husband in having her as a wife LOL! At the end of the day if the actress isn't being exploited, abused and got into the industry of her own volition, who are we to judge? When I last checked, empowerment does not equal ridicule.

Only now is the West realizing the hypocrisy of the CCP and the false hope of "changing" the system through "soft" measures. The CCP only knows profit and if the West takes that away then maybe it'll have stronger bargaining chips against the CCP, but it may be too late. The CCP burned the West bad and now the free world's paying dearly for it. I'm just surprised that the almost all of the Asia experts that the West, especially the US, trusts are White outsiders, yes outsiders. Why don't they ever ask us Asians? We've well known the duplicity of the Communist Chinese for decades now.

Always at a loss for words whenever I read about these sorts of things. Very sad. I grieve for the overall loss of these situations.

@Vanessa Carlisle

Wow! Really? I can understand if Wuhan were a coastal city or a major international city on par with Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and to a lesser extent Chengdu, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Chongqing and Macau but it's not. So if it showed up in the middle of China (look up Hebei province on a map) and it was the first place where the outbreak was reported, even without the virus lab theory, one can only conclude that China was indeed where it started.

I get it, the CCP will always have folks, like yourself, who'll always blindly believe the lies that routinely come out of the oppressive regime running China, who by the way only very recently started casting very spurious doubts that the virus originated in China when pressed by the international community regarding information about it.

https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-china-admits-deficiencies-in-response-2020-2

https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/04/17/china-just-admitted-coronavirus-death-toll-in-wuhan-was-50-higher-than-reported/

Thank God for freedom of the press in other countries so that we won't have Red wool pulled over the eyes of the free world. To your credit, I find your naive belief in China and it's opaque Communist machinations rather cute.

How anyone who's considered "experts" on China would believe ANYTHING that comes from ANY official CCP mouthpiece!

Somehow I'm getting nostalgic for some 80's New Wave...I'm thinking "Lies, lies, lies" by Thompson Twins. What does everyone think? Now back to my Chinese Bridge-Selling Licensing Course...

What's the point really?! Focus on less premium ingredients with premium price tags equals bigger profit margins. Sorry, Millennials and Gen Y'ers but you can't fool me with your latest stupid zeitgeist!

Good for them! Time for Billionaires to know what's good for Capitalism (Hint: It's NOT China's brand of hypocritical Communism)

Both WHO and the CDC are useless. First no masks now masks are mandatory. As an American, I'm extremely disappointed on how the US and any governmental authority has politicized every decision (Yes, I include BOTH Conservatives and Liberals here). When in lockdown, accelerate vaccine testing and processing NOT trying to figure out if one needs a mask to protect oneself from an AIRBORNE virus. Was proudly wearing a mask when the Chinese were panicking (despite their reports to the contrary) because I work in the airline industry. I put up all the ridicule and abuse hurled at me because I was the only one wearing a mask and I was scaring passengers ( I replied, "Too late, the Chinese beat me to it"). Safety equipment AREN'T muzzles or images of slavery, rather it's to protect myself, my family, and YOU from this still being studied and very real virus!

I personally am glad to live in a country where I can choose to protect myself to the fullest extent that I can afford as opposed to one that only listens to so-called "experts" motivated by politics whose decisions change frequently.

Truly free countries wouldn't detain without due process. Even the illegal immigrants in the US have their day in court. China? Just crazy punitive sentences via a very opaque process!

Well, if one is responsible for the outbreak then one should be the one taking the lead in curtailing it. Bright side for Akie, et al. (the primary cheerleaders of the CCP propaganda on this forum), it'll be big profits for Xi Jinping and Mother China if the Chinese solution is actually successful. NOT holding my breath given Chinese product quality, not that it's any better than some USA-made products. See! I can be objective unlike some of you!

Smokescreening again from a patently Communist Chinese company trying to pose American. Classic move that always works on the West apparently. When will they ever learn?