Posted in: Singer Makihara given suspended sentence for possessing drugs See in context
He's been doing drugs for 30 years(!) and yet he only had them because he hadn't disposed of them yet?!
5 ( +6 / -1 )
Posted in: Proponent of Abenomics blasts tourism campaign as pandemic rages on See in context
It is like every day is 'Opposite Day' in the Abe steering committee meetings.
3 ( +3 / -0 )
Posted in: Japan households get mystery seed packages labeled from China See in context
Several days ago in the US they announced what the seeds were!
"A US Department of Agriculture official said in a recorded statement released on July 29 that 14 species of the seeds have been identified as herbs and other plants including hibiscus and mint."
Also several of the US packages were most likely not sent from China as the postal labels were fake as well. Or the addresses on the labels were fake. Conflicting reports there.
-1 ( +2 / -3 )
Posted in: Sex dependency syndrome – no medication for that See in context
In women it’s more likely to reflect extreme vulnerability – stemming from childhood abuse, or bullying, or a sense of being unloved.
I do not think there is actually any clinical evidence to support this and her (Takagi) only out is that she uses 'it's more likely' (double speak for 'perhaps, maybe, but I don't know'). In other countries such a position would be severely ridiculed as old fashioned and damaging. Here it gets reported as news.
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: U.S military at Japan base shows it can function during pandemic See in context
By 'function' I assume they mean let the soldiers run amok and rob currency exchange shops?
-1 ( +5 / -6 )
Posted in: Truck driver abandons body of suicide victim, claiming he thought it was a doll See in context
I don't understand how we even know there was a 'truck driver'. The only witness is the taxi driver. Surely he should be a suspect? How do the police know he is not just making it up?
If he is the only witness how do the police also know that the body spent 2km on the truck's 'loading tray'?
3 ( +3 / -0 )
Posted in: 'Abenomasks' only received by Tokyo residents See in context
Actually my father in law up here in Miyagi got his...so not sure what that's all about!
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Toyota offers redesigned van to transport serious COVID-19 patients See in context
I think this is great, especially as so many virus victims are spending a lot of time being driven from hospital to hospital looking for one that will admit them!
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: 'Trolls' went straight to homes and movie theaters are fuming See in context
Sadly, I also feel the movie will be overlooked at Oscar time.
3 ( +4 / -1 )
Posted in: 5 vacations to help rebuild disaster-hit Tohoku region See in context
I live in Tohoku and while I appreciate the spirit of the article the timing is horrible.
so let me be more clear: the virus works both ways and we don’t want people coming here and spreading the virus.
plan to come but please come after this crisis.
4 ( +4 / -0 )
Posted in: Man arrested for smuggling 240 kgs of drugs from Canada See in context
He has admitted to most of the charges.
All the ones except the smuggling?
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: Police, parents appeal for help in solving disappearance of 4-year-old girl in 1996 See in context
If they have surveillance footage of the man, why not of the kid? And whereas it is true that the father is not the best father ever, it was in a Pachinko parlor presumably full of customers and staff.
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: Japan, Singapore passports offer widest simplified global access See in context
Whereas this might be true, in a lot of countries I go to Japanese passports cannot be used for Electronic/Biometric entry, which I find curious. In that regard, the Chinese passport seems to be more commonly accepted (for example, in New Zealand, Chinese passport holders can use the electronic entry gates, whereas Japanese passport holders have to queue and see an immigration agent).
I am not quite sure why that is.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Pine room and a secret jewel: Japan's abdication rituals See in context
The emperor does not speak in this 10-minute ceremony, which is off-limits to female royals.
Sigh. So much for progress.
1 ( +4 / -3 )
Posted in: Idol singer who was attacked at home removes affiliation with idol group from Twitter profile See in context
I hope that the reason the affiliation is gone is because she decided to remove it, not because she was - and the others - were fired or 'disciplined'. I also hope that these young women see they have an opportunity to make a statement about the status of women in this country.
But I fear it is just management action and the girls will either slip from public view or in a year things will just be back to normal and no one will remember.
6 ( +6 / -0 )
Posted in: Japanese messaging app operator Line to launch cryptocurrency See in context
The coin is not available for users in Japan and the United States for regulatory reasons
What does this mean exactly? If I can buy the coin on an international exchange how is it restricted?
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: 4 firms made foreign trainees do Fukushima decontamination work See in context
I know this comment will never reach the website, but, this article really highlights the spinelessness of reporting in Japan.
1) Name the companies
2) Name the local media who were brave enough to report this
3) You mention a "report" several times but do not actually say who made this report, when they made this report, how this report was released or leaked or anything
4) Everyone up here in Tohoku knew this was going on because of previous news reports - including an article in the Guardian 4 years ago, and in Reuters and the Telegraph 5 years ago.
Also, I find it a little strange that this article is written by an AFP photographer!
10 ( +11 / -1 )
Posted in: Airbnb, Uber woes show Japan does not share easily See in context
Japan is not "slow to adopt", it's different. I am happy that a culture can retain it's uniqueness. The world does not need to be culturally homogenous! This is one of the reasons I choose to live in Japan. I don't want to live in "America in the east".
3 ( +9 / -6 )
Posted in: Japan enacts law to lower adulthood age to 18 See in context
So they can now get married, but not drink at the wedding.
12 ( +14 / -2 )
Posted in: Singer Aska arrested again for using stimulants See in context
MDMA (Molly/Ectasy) has long been taken to 'feel good'. No one takes meth (methamphetamine) to 'feel good'.
Either way, I really don't understand why this is such big news. First of all it is naive to think Japan doesn't have a drug problem. They do, just not of the type and scale of the US. Because it is more difficult to get 'real drugs' in Japan kids use things like glue and solvents, then moving on to meth and heroin. Second of all, who cares?!?! Aren't there real issues that Japan needs to know about? Why the news last night spent about 75% of the time on this story (and barely mentioned the special extension of the Diet, for instance) is the real problem in Japan...that's the drug that is destroying people's brains.
5 ( +7 / -2 )
Posted in: Delta Air Lines partners with Airbnb See in context
Fascinating, especially given the dubious legality of AirBnB in Japan! Is Delta encouraging people to break the law?
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: How rock star entrepreneur Traci Consoli defied the odds See in context
I went to the Pink Cow in 2006... I had no idea it was still going (I don't live in Tokyo, but I do live in Japan). Good for her! Great to see success!
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: Whaling nations sink bid for South Atlantic sanctuary See in context
Japanese money well spent in buying those votes.
-1 ( +5 / -6 )
Posted in: Actress Takahata apologizes over son’s arrest on rape charge See in context
It's not just whether her son tells her a lie and repeats it, it's also whether her son tells her a truth that they later want to deny. Best to say nothing. I can understand that she is legitimately upset. This will impact her career too.
4 ( +7 / -3 )
Posted in: Was Sagamihara killer inspired by Nazi eugenics program? See in context
The focus should not be on the reasons of an insane person, the focus should be on the supposedly sane people who had so much advance warning yet couldn't prevent this. They should be held responsible. I haven't seen any stories about that yet.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Mass killing raises questions about security in Japan See in context
The coverage on Japanese TV last night was classic 'head in the sand'. Here a suspect wrote in detail what he would do and WHERE he would do it. He was interviewed by police after voicing the same views AT the place. He was briefly detained and then released, only to go on to do what he said he would. In interviews representatives from the Police and the from the mental health assessor said they would need to see 'if procedures needed to be changed' and even went so far as to say that his released 'was the right thing to do as they believed he had been cured'. People should be fired. The families should sue all the parties involved and the government should make a stand. But oh wait, this is Japan. Let's do nothing.
8 ( +8 / -0 )
Posted in: Edward Snowden talks about film dramatizing his life See in context
The world needs more people willing to 'betray' their countries dirty secrets. There is little (actually none, but I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt) that Snowden's leak endangered any American lives, and, as far as I can tell, America has not suffered any attacks because of it (the attacks America has suffered have come because anybody can go to America and get an assault rifle).
As far as the film goes, I'm curious to see how it compares to the Documentary (Citizenfour).
3 ( +4 / -1 )
Posted in: Naked man strolls up to Akihabara Station in Tokyo to buy a train ticket See in context
Story would perhaps be a little more interesting if they had actually spoken to the man and found out anything about this incident!
6 ( +8 / -2 )
Posted in: Japan's first 'naked restaurant' to ban overweight diners See in context
This restaurant - of course - has nothing to do with the ones in London or Melbourne. They simply have co-opted the idea. The one in London - The Bunyadi - has female waitresses and a fixed price menu of 5 courses costs around 1万¥. I'm not totally clear on who the market is for this one in Japan... is it more of a Gay club that doesn't want to advertise itself as such? For that money me thinks there's a lot more going on than dinner.
5 ( +6 / -1 )
Posted in: Death of S Korean actor at 24 sparks discussion about social media and internet culture
It is a traditional thing no problem haha
Posted in: Mizuho Bank says worker stole safe-deposit box valuables in 2019
Oh given given given given given no motive ok ok ok
Posted in: Man arrested after driving car onto sidewalk and hitting 80-year-old pedestrian
Posted in: Death of S Korean actor at 24 sparks discussion about social media and internet culture