Japan Today

Phil Thompson comments

Posted in: Missing Okayama girl found unharmed; 49-year-old man arrested See in context

If there was no harm to the girl -- and that would indicate he had no intent to harm her, because he certainly had the opportunity to do so -- he should receive mental health treatment and probation. It appears this is a mentally imbalanced person who poses no threat to others, other than perhaps himself.

You're joking right?

He has planned this kidnap for months. He has been stalking her since April (possibly earlier), he had renovations done on a room in his house (a soundproofed windowless room locked from the outside) in order to accomodate her; he obviously had prepare pyjamas, and presumably undies and other things for the girl. With all that preparation, it seems pretty clear that he was planning on keeping her for a long, long time.

He HAS harmed the girl, perhaps permanently. Not all wounds are physical you know. He needs to be locked away for a long, long time. If he is mentally unstable, then all the more so. He is a threat to society and should most certainly not be given "probation".

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Missing Okayama girl found unharmed; 49-year-old man arrested See in context

For those criticising the 11 year old girl for getting in the car, let's just remember we're going off the the testimony of the kidnapper here. Of course he's going to say she got in the car voluntarily.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Posted in: NHK announces lineup for 'Kohaku Uta Gassen' on New Year's Eve See in context

I don't care what Japanese people watch or do on NYE... but that doesn't mean I think it would be a valuable use of MY time - which is why I gave an example of some better things I can think of doing. No need to get your knickers in a knot over it.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Posted in: 10 things Japan gets awesomely right See in context

Bathing

Wash your body before your get in the tub...

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Posted in: Japan anticipates economic boost, but Fukushima shadow lingers See in context

Well said MarkX. Historically, the Olympics has never had any long term economic benefit for the host countries. Since Tokyo has much of the infrastructure already in place, there is a glimmer of hope that she might break even or perhaps even make a profit, but I wouldn't bet on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_the_Olympic_Games

So, if there is no real economic benefit, and no guarantee that Tokyo will even break-even, then what is the point of this whole thing when there are still tens of thousands of displaced citizens from Northern Japan, and very little reconstruction work (despite huge amounts of charitable donations) going on?

Surely if Japan wanted to boost the economy with construction projects, they don't need to do so by building new stadiums around Tokyo - they have more than enough opportunities in Tohoku - opportunities that they choose to ignore and neglect.

It is disgusting that not only the politicians, but citizens of this country actually support these Olympics. "The economic benefits will help Tohoku" they say... First, any respectable economist will tell you the economic benefits are minimal. Second, the Olympics are in Tokyo. How on earth do the economic benefits trickle down to Tohoku? Third, the gamers are in 2020... What are the people of Tohoku supposed to do until then? Just put everything on hold like they already have done for the past 2 years?

5 ( +9 / -3 )

Posted in: Gov't plans to increase number of foreign English teachers to 10,000 See in context

However, the vast majority of JETs aren't English teachers. Most of them are fresh out of college with little or no life experience, being sent to a foreign country for a combination "cultural exchange" and to "teach". The JET programme needs major reform and refocusing if it is to actually achieve any goal in the teaching of English.

Exactly. The purpose of the JET program is not the English education of Japanese kids, so I don't see how increasing the number of unexperienced, unqualified foreigners is going to help. It's just a waste of taxpayer money if you ask me. They should follow Seoul's example and get rid of all unqualified English teachers, not increase them.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Posted in: Global PC units in the first quarter fell by 14%. Will PCs soon be obsolete? See in context

Jurassic PCs will live forever and WinXP (a cheap clone of Win2000) is still the best OS ever. Why upgrade?

Because on a Jurassic PC, you can only do Jurassic work. Try editing some HD video on a 10yr old computer with Celeron processor and 256MB of RAM running XP and tell me how far you get.

If all you do on your computer is browse the net and use Microsoft Office though, then yes, there is no real need to upgrade.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Subcontractors reportedly ripping off Fukushima nuclear accident workers See in context

Disgusting and unforgivable... but 99.9% of the population just says shouganai and that's that. These crooks should be locked up - but since that is never going to happen, they should at least have their names made public and posted all over the internet. They deserve to be shamed, not given the luxury of anonymity.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Saving money in Japan See in context

@export expert

Lol. You're getting thumbed down but I thought it was funny.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan and the F-35: What to do? See in context

Frungy pretty much covers it. The real question here is why did Japan say yes in the first place?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Who gets your vote for the greatest rock band of all time? See in context

I voted Beatles but if we are being fussy about the definition of rock, I have to go with led zeppelin.

I must admit I have a soft spot for dire straits too. Whatever you do don't judge them by their brothers in arms album. Check out the live versions of Sultans of swing on YouTube to see what they are really about.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Samsung wins appeal in Apple tablet battle See in context

Come on, every company copies technology from others - that's how they stay competitive. I can understand Apple and Samsung legal departments having disagreements over this, but can't we as end-users just admit both Apple and Samsung (and god forbid even Sony) make decent products and play nice? I mean really, what is the big deal??

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Tokyo Apple store staff offer silent prayer for Steve Jobs See in context

I wonder if the world would feel such sorrow if the ex-CEO of that other operating system passed away.

Mr. Jobs and his contribution to the world has been great, but in all fairness, Bill Gates has done more for humankind than Steve Jobs ever achieved. The world is more than just computers and phones and portable music players -

Mr. Jobs made life for millions of people in affluent countries more convenient.

Mr. Gates is saving millions of lives in countries where people don't have the means to save themselves.

So dissing Bill Gates as a way of showing appreciation to Steve Jobs is in my humble opinion rather inappropriate. They are both great, albeit for different reasons.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Posted in: Meet the 'dirty girls' of Ayaman Japan See in context

yamato nadeshiko they are not.

Indeed. They certainly don't look like men.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Man arrested after barricading himself in home of Johnny's president See in context

Now if only Mr. Johnny would do the same...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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