Pidestroika comments

And lets not forget:

Erotica is using a feather, pornography is using the whole chicken.

Merriam Webster says:

Definition of PORNOGRAPHY

1: the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement

2: material (as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement

3: the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction

Therefore they are. It's not hardcore, quite soft actually but stupid and very very cheap. The kind of titillating stuff adults with serious psychological problems would find "sexy" enough to choke their chicken. On the other hand WilliB is right. If you ban them (for being "porn") then I guess Saria laws is the next step. The Japanese public should have had the cultural sense to ignore them instead of making them cultural ambassadors because they sell a lot. Can you imagine them opening the Tokyo Olympics?

Yes, the "irasshaimasse" sometimes shortened to "sasseeee" is the single most annoying J. habit especially in konbinis. I don't care about the explanation of ukguyjp, we are not talking here about with or without. We are talking about excessive, unnecessary and too loud. Once I counted 12 "sasseeee" said to me in a konbini. Every time a staff member encountered me they were saying "sasseeee" to me. Once is nice and friendly, twice is okay more than that is annoying. The other one is the fantastic "ariaimashita"; short version of "arigato gozaimashita".

I also hate the unnecessary waste of plastic bags again especially in kombinis. One for the beer, one for the bento, another for the magazine. Ofcourse there is always an explanation but that doesn't mean it's not excessive especially when they try to be "green". How about recycled paper bags for a change?

I find ridiculous some warning signs and announcements on the trains. Keihin Tohoku "The train might stop suddenly in case of an emergency. So please be careful." Ok, how? Chuo line and others "It is very dangerous to get off the train between stations." How and why would I do that?

I don't like to always be asked about "kien" or "kitsuen" seat. I want a GOOD seat for a change and this means away from smoke, not by the restroom, with a good view if possible. You go to a completely empty kisaten and they ask "Tabako suimasu ka?" "No, I quit 20 years ago. How about you?".

I disagree with the trafic worker. They seem unnecessary but actually they do control traffic especially when vehicles of the construction party are coming and going.

For the NHK guy I always say "I don't understand what you say. Come back when my wife's here". "Ok, what time?" "10 at night (which is true)". They never do.

Last comment from my part on the issue. NHK could have simply made it a leave without payment and the story would be over. Firing her shows no respect or appreciation for her job of more than 20 years and again I believe it shows racism (however basroil wants to interpret things) towards a foreign fellow worker whom we should all support. Perhaps you believe jobs are "fair game" and companies have the right to treat people like garbage but I don't and never will.

A lot of speculation going on here and everbody's an expert on what she might have said or done, how she lived her life and how brave she is. Arranging for a substitute means 1) she cared for her job and 2) she talked to her boss about it. We all know how it works. You don't ask another guy to cover for you without first telling your boss about it. NHK is in the wrong here because:

she only wanted to work if she wasn't good at her job she wouldn't been doing it for 20 years there is nothing to indicate whether NHK contact her to ask her if and when she will return

NHK behaved following Waxman's way of thinking (working for NHK, are we?). Exacting revenge on a "coward gaijin". Following 3/11 A LOT of Tokyo citizens left the city with their families for their country hometowns terrified of the radioactivity and the continuous after shocks. Those who stayed in Tokyo remember how empty the city was. Were they all fired or where they all "cowards"? No. It's another blatant case of racism towards a foreign worker. There should be a strike of all foreign trasnlators working for NHK in support of a fellow worker. Today Emmanuelle, tomorrow you.

She clearly has no idea how Japan works despite all her years here.

And ofcourse you do, your omniscient majesty. You're wasting yourself posting here.

Amazing how some posters attack the worker. Solidarity obviously means nothing to them. The reason why she left is irrelevant. She cleared with her employees, (proof is that she arranged for a substitute), caused no trouble and left. Next time you go back to your country because a member of your family is sick or whatever and you get fired remember what you wrote here.

Ranger_Miffy2: it's never a woman doing this abuse

Check this video and you'll change your mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wer7tSSEy4

Where were the parents? What did the boy's mother do after he told her that the teacher hit him? The responsibility of the parents is NEVER, EVER discussed in Japan. It's either "monster parents" trying to earn a yen or two or parents who "work too much" and don't have the time to listen to their children. Every single time I hear of a student commiting suicide or some crime it's always as if they are orphans. The parents and their negligence is never discussed.

"Native English Speaker" What exactly is that supposed to mean? Any half-illiterate ninny who can barely spell their name can immediately find a job as an English "teacher" as long as they are born in the US, Canada etc

Japanese is the cleanest and most polite people in the world except on the trains (Shinkasen excluded)! Not what-if situations. Things I've seen with my own eyes.

salari-men turning the train into a snack-bar with peanuts or senbe and usually haposhu or sochu cans, often leaving the empty can under the train seat. Worst drinking case ever, salariman with 100-yen glass bottle of Sake drinking it standing and leaving it on the floor to eat senbe. He was using 1 hand to hold the rail and the other hand to eat and drink. Keihin Tohoku line, 3 days ago. Teenagers sitting on the train (Yamanote) and drinking juice. Once they were done left the empty cases and cans behind. Some were not completely empty and started to roll down the aisle making a mess everywhere. Students of various ages eating something and tucking the empty wrapping in the train seat. Very common. Worst case ever, a lady (50s) sitting on the train taking out her home-made bento and eating rice and whatever with her chopsticks in front of everybody. Crowded Keihin Tohoku, 6pm. Last week.

Drinking a beverage because you're thirsty is natural. Turning the train, especially those with many people that don't run too far, into a bar is not. Alcohool on the trains should be banned together with the drunks as a first step and I don't care about "traditional" behaviour.

In my view the dispute over the islands from the Japanese side started with a group of politicians that believe that the US is hesitant or even unwilling to defend Japan and therefore lobby for an "independent" (at least military) Japan with its own strong Armed Forces. The Chinese threat is played accordingly and the Senkaku issue is a challenge towards the US government. If the US does nothing to support Japan, these politicians will gain traction.

From the Chinese side the dispute works well in the overall Communist government military spending spree frame. Creating enemies and inflating situations is exactly what another communist country does, the N. Korean government, to justify its authority and the misfortunes (famine) to the population. The powerful Chinese military needs enemies to justify its growth, with the politicians running behind for whatever under-the-table scraps. The underlying message to the pliable population is: "Do not protest for destruction of the Chinese countryside, the corrupt officials, the unemployment and all the other huge social problems. Let's all Chinese get together against the "evil Japanese"."

The economies of both countries are too co-dependent for their governments to risk any kind of conflict. The obtuse nationalists who frequent these boards do not realize that any attack on Japanese interests in China means less investment, less jobs and more merchandise produced in China without a market to be sold to. All these would certainly bring the Chinese economy to its knees in no time. Similar for Japan who would lose one of its biggest and most important markets.

My 2 yen.

The Chinese ships entered the area and left when the J coast guard told them to do so. Apparently there was no time for "law enforcement" activities. Now that the islands were purchased by the J government it would not be surprising if they decided to install a small JIETAI patrol unit on the islands, imitating the Koreans. In any case any kind of naval confrontation could easily escalate and get out of control. Loosing face is unacceptable to both. What will the US do? Personally I believe that if there is any dangerous escalation, the US Navy will make its presence felt in the area. Get ready for big US Naval exercises around Okinawa very soon. On the other hand such dangerous games between Japan and China work well for the US who find good excuses to justify the presence of US bases in Japan and particularly on Okinawa after the Futenma mess. So as long the situation is not escalating dangerously the US will stand by and watch. If the boys start playing rough, the US will asume the role of the referee.

Himajin. Oh, yeah. Had plenty of head-scratching. Gave it up though after the 153rd time. Another example. Was in "Friday's" in Ueno and a hot waitress is coming to greet me and the missus at the entrance. First thing she says "Smoking table or non-smoking". I said "Good evening to you too. We'd like a NICE table, please". You could literally see the question mark above her head flashing.

Stuff like that don't happen in the inaka. Most people I've met are friendly, talkative and use their heads to be helpful and really treat the customers very good. Best service I've ever had was in a spa in Beppu. The old lady offered to make our futon, prepared the nabe herself and explained everything about the local dishes. Service like that you don't get in any other country in the world. That's the Japan I love. Mac is total...you know what.

Best Fast Food service in Tokyo, "Suika" ramen in Ueno station. You get DELICIOUS ramen in about 5 minutes and the staff never scream or shout. Try it.

Himajin. Not after the first year in Japan.

greenlight and the rest. You're missing the point. J Macs are fast because the staff and the customers all work under a certain kind of rules and behavior. The customers robotically point to what they want to consume and the staff robotically bring it to them. The staff can prepare quickly big quantities of certain products (cheezburgers, Big Macs or whatever) and they just deliver them to the customers when they get orders. The whole system is tuned to work quickly and efficiently because the customers rarely if ever have special demands. Once a customer asks a question or starts any kind of discussion beyond what's in the corporate manual the whole system slows down significantly. I gave an example of a conversation I sometimes had. The constant "confirming" and "re-confirming" and the standardized yes-no answers to standardized questions as if no other answer is allowed is not for me. Yes, I could behave like any other Japanese. Sure. Grunt and get my order. I prefer not to blip and have my batteries changed ever so often though. Me not being happy with Mac doesn't mean you can't be happy. Should we all agree about everything? I said I prefer other joints where they don't bust my tama with their stupid questions and the quality is much better even if I had to wait a bit longer. So, yes. If you want to "eat" fast, Macs in Japan are the fastest. If you want something more than just to consume junk food, they ain't. And I believe the subject of the article is Fast Food service in Japan in general. Not just Mac.

TSRnow, Yeah, and??? What's your point? Are you saying they ask me all these stupid questions cause I'm a foreigner? I have problem only in Mac because I don't grunt like most Japanese. That's why I don't go there any more. No problem any place else. They understand my Japanese just fine.

I don't care about US FF service. Macs in Japan are NOT fast. You have to go through the 100 question gantlet first and you have to be prepaired many hours in advance for all the critical decisions they force you to make. MacStaff - Are you going to dine in our premisses? Cust - Not sure. Are there any empty seats upstairs cause everything's crowded down here? MS - .......Are you going to dine.... C - Never mind. Yes, I will. I need uan chizubaga and uan fraido poteto, eru (the last part was in Japanese by the way). MS - Would you like them in a set? C - No I want them separately. MS - The set comes with a drink for only xxx Yen. C - Ok, but what drinks are in the set? MS - ........Coke, tea (!!!!), cofee and orange juice (!!!)... C - No, thanks I'll just have the burger and the fries. MS - You want a cheesburger or a plain burger? We also have the extra special traditional burger for this month with nato. C - Does it taste good? MS - Which one, sir? C - ...Which one is the best? MS - I'm not sure, I'll need to ask my super. C - Why? Haven't you tried them? MS - ..... C - Anyway, I'll stick to the cheezburger. MS - So, will that be one cheezburger and one fries? C - Yes. MS - Fries L size? C - Yes MS - Not in a set. C - Yes, not in a set. MS - And no drink. C - Yes, (dammit) no drink. MS - That will be xxx C - Here u go MS - out of xxx...I'm returning your change. Hope to see you in our premisses again.

Similar moronic interludes with high school part-timers in high pitched shrieking voices time and time again...until I decided I don't need all this. I much prefer my Moss Burger (you could get caught in a mosh!!!) even though it's slower and the staff at the counter is usually Korean or Chinese (in my area). Much less questions. And I don't care about the time it takes them in Burger King. 100 times better than Mac. Or for really fast food Yoshinoya is turbo-fast. Just read Mac's hiring senior Japanese in their 80s. Can you imagine your grandma working behind the counter of a Mac instead or retiring her old, tired bones? FF in Japan are fast because the customers are not demanding. All they need to do is grunt their replies. Try asking for no tomato, extra ketchap, no onion and you'll see how long it takes them.

Child pornography is a crime and should be punished in any country without exceptions. There is absolutely no difference between photos or drawings, illustrations or what have you. Those who get their fix using these images don't care either. They would prefer the real thing, but illustrations are just fine for them.

Typical defence of child pornographers is that they didn't take the photos, the found them. They didn't hurt anybody. It was for personal use. It's a very good think that they rot in jails.

Child pornography manga are NOT inocent. They are still pornography even if some claim they are fantasy or whatever other excuse. Would you like somebody to imagine raping your daughter when he draws his "art"? If you have problem differentiating between art and pornography I suggest you visit the National Art Mudeum of Tokyo and then get the cheapest skin magazine from a kombini.

It's incredible that in 2012 people still claim that pornography could be art just because somebody says so to stay out of jail.

Countries around the world have different laws. Respect them and stay out of jail. Simple. In Japan using women and children as sex objects, degrading and torturing them is okay as long as it's manga and no genitals are shown. So stay in Japan and enjoy your manga.

As it's written in the article, the "manga expert" should not be jailed or punished if he is trully an expert and a researcher. Following the same logic policemen and forensic researchers should also be in jail for possesing pictures they confiscated.

Thanks Laguna. Bill turned skittish after the Sudan attack (did I hear Sudan? Like the country that it's on the news everyday the past couple weeks?). He could have dropped a bomb or send a bunch of special op guys (Navy Seals, Army Squirrels, Air Force Pelicans...) to get him, as Obama did. Instead he sat down and lit a cigar.

In my eyes, Democrats are oversensitive and indecisive, Republicans are brainless gung-ho adventurists. But you American know better ofcourse. You live with them on a daily basis. I'm a European and an outsider. To me Obama was/is a sensible president who tried to clean up the mess George left behind. He wasn't the best but he was definitely better than the moron before him. Can't get any worse than George!

Why wouldn't or shouldn't Obama get credit for the death of Osama? Bill didn't want to bomb him when he could and George let Osama escape to Pakistan. Obama wanted to give a happy ending to the Afghanistan adventure and that's what he did. Good for him. He should definitely use it in his campaign. The others who complain are just jealous.

Herve - Don't worry. Osama's widows will reveal the truth in their forthcoming books.

johninnaha - So from what you say Ayman al-Zawahiri leader of Islamic Jihad in Egypt, the actual force behind al- Qaeda during the Osama days and current leader, is a pawn of the CIA? The al-Qaeda fighters in Somalia and Yemen are also CIA? Perhaps there were no jews in the WTC on 9/11 too?

Tmarie. The USA treat Pakistan as an ally to gain access to bases and aerospace in order to move troops, provisions etc in and out of Afghanistan. Pakistan is an ally because Iran is a no-no for them regarding Afghanistan although it should be a yes-yes. Obama finished George's job by taking care of Osama and now the US can declare victory and go back home and drop the hot potato as HonestDictator says. Only for the Taliban to come back to Afghanistan and a new generation of terorists to come out. I believe the US will be back in Afghanistan in 5-6 years if they just leave. The only real solution for Afghanistan is to become a trully independent country with the auspicies of the Arab nations. Noone else. Afghan army trained by Arabs, not the US or EU, economy revived by Arab investments etc.

paulinusa. Yes. Now that Osama has been moved to a new string dimension they can play stingy.

bin Laden had at least five wives. Two of them, one from Syria, divorced him before 9/11. Osama's family lived in Pakistan under the protection of ISI, the Pakistani secret service. The government of Pakistan don't admit this of course. Meanwhile: "Between 2002-2010, Pakistan received approximately 18 billion in military and economic aid from the United States. In February 2010, the Obama administration requested an additional 3 billion in aid, for a total of 20.7 billion."

Personally I'm not interested at all to read all these comments with each and everyone's personal views regarding homosexuality and their debate whether it's natural or not. There will always be gay rights supporters and shocked conservatives. No need to submit the rest of us to your endless debates. You are all more boring than the akb.

About the cm. As you all know Japanese are notorious in aping everything that's trendy. There is a reason they are called manenko. So I can easily imagine boys teasing and challenging girls in schools to do as the akb commercial and parents getting worried about "oral flora" and stuff. Perhaps they would prefer the "poutso" in the commercial to be wrapped in a condom or something to make it more hygienic. A Japanese compromising solution.

About the "homosexuality" bit. I find the "Soft Bank" series of commercials even more disgustingly suggestive. The father is a dog, so whom exactly does the mother have sex with? You get where I'm going. Japan is quickly turning into a Disneyland country where even the slightest hint of eroticism is a no-no. No wonder there is a growing number of Japanese couples not doing it.

May I offer a twist? "Poutso" in Greek is the vulgar word for penis.

Remember the old commercial "Bob Shap (or whatever his name was) doesn't have a "poutso"? Who commented here that he likes lemon flavored "poutso"? And AKB passing a "poutso" to each other....if that commercial was aired in Greece it would make history.

helping Karzai's government, Karzai's call, Karzai has already accused. Not even once in the article the current President of Afghanistan is mentioned with his full name and title. Only with his last name. On the other hand: US President Barack Obama's.

Showing some respect towards the President of Afghanistan wouldn't hurt. Especially in an article like this.

From the "Encyclopedia of Unusual S Practises":

Trichophilia: refers to hair fetishes. Tripsolagnia - arousal from having hair manipulated or shampooed. ... A Time (May 18, 1992) article referred to a judge who was arrested by state troopers. It appears that the judge offered a "defendant leniency if he let the judge shampoo his hair. Further, suggested His Honor, the young man could get even more leniency if he brought in friends for a wash and rinse as well..."

Apparently you have no idea how weird our world is.

How did the cops find out?

It's exactly because the system doesn't allow for any criticism and accountability that Japan is losing the economic battle and is going to suffer in the future.

Considering JAXA's record and this latest failure I think Japan should generally avoid anything that has to do with rockets.

slashing 10,000 jobs It's amazing how 10,000 jobless have no impact in this country. At all. It's amazing how nobody makes the connection with the number of suicides. It's amazing how nobody...NOBODY is fighting for the rights of these workers (and families that go along) losing their jobs. In most other countries there would be strikes, demonstrations... That's what you get when you emasculate the unions and people lose their jobs for the bad decisions some lame ketsu executives take. And don't forget not to criticise, not to protest. If you don't like it...change the channel, jump on the train trucks, move to another planet.

I can see it coming. The next "ruuuru" in Japan will be: "It is strictly forbiden for policemen in schoolgirl uniforms to ride elevators with real schoolgirls." And the campaign sign featuring the indispensable manga character and AKB members: "Let's stop dangling our genitals in front of schoolgirls! Gokyoryoku o onegai itashimasu"

I think that talking about the "Japanese", "most Japanese" and the "majority of the Japanese" is a gross generalization on the part of the non-J who project their experiences on the whole J. population. As if dealing with just one drunk or henna Nihonjin means that all J. are the same. Not all J. are xenophobic and not all J. love or should love foreigners. Same goes for the foreigners. The way a US soldier sees Japan is vastly different from a Chinese worker or a French university student. So I think it's better to talk about your own personal experiences than bag everything in aphorisms like "All Japanese don't like foreigners". And let's not forget that stupidity is international.

I had a few bad incidents and a lot more uncomfortable encounters with J. I'm from Europe, from a completely different place, with a different upbringing and cultural background. It's only natural to face difficulties. For example I could never understand the obsession of the J. with the "Carpenters" and "B. Joel" (ooonestiiiiii!). But looking back after more than ten happy years in Tokyo I can say that overall Japan has treated me wright and I'm glad I made this country my home. During this time I've met some wonderful J. I respect and feel humble in front of and a bunch of morons. About the same amount I would normally encounter in my country.