Rik314 comments

It is 'tagging' and it is rubbish in Australia and it is rubbish here. Keep him locked up as long as Japanese law allows, then charge him and teach him a lesson, because sadly Australian laws are letting twits like him get away with it.

If only we could read what this man actually died of.

A sudden, hard stop.

If people are thinking step and handrails, don't. Posts with chains to hang onto and pull yourself up a steep, smooth rock face. The sooner they close it the better. It has been disrespected in all manner of ways. It is sacred land to the local Indigenous people and needs respecting. How would you like it if someone crawled up the side of a cathedral or roller bladed around a mosque or banged on the drums in a Shinto shrine?

Why?

For older men in Japan, their responsibility toward their children covers making them, financing them and berating them. All the rest is the mother's responsibility. It is changing, slowly, but we (non-Japanese and more liberal minded Japanese) will need to realise "We're not in Kansas anymore" even though Toto is in Japan. Good luck to this guy. He may 'win' but he will never get 'satisfaction'.

@since1981 I have been here a year shy of you and we (my wife is Japanese) had three kids in that time. We put all our kids a very grassroots daycare and we lucky enough to meet two very like-minded Japanese families at the 'park debut'. All have three kids, all nine kids are still friends and we did help each other out at times (and still do). It very much depends on the ideas of obligations and responsibility held by the families. You know that it is never as simple as asking for most families here. I would say though that grandparents offer there time less that I would have expected.

I already feel sorry for her. She will not only have to deal with some of the usual modelling world stuff (maybe not the managers and agencies etc. as they would not dare try to exploit her, but the sniping and jealous from many in the business), but also the extra burden of having exceptionally famous parents. Grew up in one bubble and now enters another one. Another exotic animal to gawk at for most people. But, maybe she is used to it.

two people familiar with the president's thinking 

Wow! That must be a fun job.

Does Trump think before he hires guys like RG?

Perhaps I should one of those two people.

If #MeToo takes hold here it could end up in tearful and heartfelt resignations of 25-30% of male officials in every sector. The private hospitals will be jam-packed with politicians and captains of industry.

With FIFA Trump finally has a bunch of hoods on the same wavelength. But does Baby-Man even know what this World Cup is about? It's like a five year old trying to get all the toys, even the ones he doesn't want.

I wish a kid like this onto all those who think he is 'cool' or a 'legend'. Yeah, very funny. It's not a movie or video game. Can you imagine how the parents felt? (Not talking about the money).) And the kid could have gotten into serious trouble in Bali, the beer plus scooter aside. I feel for them, even if they created this kid.

Lindsay is a loss. Neil Finn is a HUGE gain!

Not sure what the basis of their claim to a re-trial is, except to continue to draw more undeserved breath, but as someone who was here when it happened, I do know they murdered in calculated, cold blood, the Sakamoto family, Kariya, those they tested sarin on in Matsumoto, and they had hope to killed untold numbers in the train attacks. Every tax yen spent of these people, repentant or not, is a waste. Move them on.

Seriously??? 15 years for each year at least!

Another ticking bomb Monkasho has set under a generation of students and teachers. As with the yutori kyoiku debacle the only winners will be the jukus who take up (dubiously) the slack and pick up the pieces. (Parent and teacher of 30+ years in Japan)

Kojin goes on to express another concern: the effects such pricey presents can have on the mental development of Batten Showjo-tai’s members, who range in age from 14 to 18 years old.

“We are also concerned that if idols, who are girls in their teens, receive expensive gifts from fans, there is the possibility that it will warp their mental and societal values

Yes, of course! And after a career as a Japanese teen idol I am sure most the girls (and the boys) are well-prepared for a normal life as a nobody with mental and societal values in tact. Just wonder about the mental and societal values that got them there in the first place. Not warped at all!

As someone who has been harassed by a Japanese colleague (female) there are many many ways - subtle, indirect and often comical - that people can use the system at hand to do so and not even think that it is harassment. I have no doubt that this Sakae joker harassed Icho in what is now recognised as such, but I also have no doubt that he is clueless that it is harassment. Some people just no no get it. Just as many posters think harassment is only sexual. It is almost 'restraint of trade' but I don't know if that legal concept exists here. Love how Icho just kept winning and winning and winning...

Christine: The 'rape' in 'rapeseed' is from Latin in which 'rapum' means 'turnip'. Sure, the word has very negative connotations and there are other names, e.g. charlock, and rapeseed is in the mustard/cabbage family, not turnip. But if we are to going rifling through the dictionary for such things, do we have to go through the phone book, call up every family named Raper, and tell them they are badly named and use something else? Remember the lower-level US official who got hauled through the coals and lost his job for using (correctly) the word 'niggardly'? Sometimes we do go too far.

How many points is a cyclist worth again? It used to be 50... But seriously, can we get gigantic plastic hammers installed at the Hachiko intersection in Shibuya for these mobile morons and the selfie/videoing tourist hordes?

Just clone Charlton Heston and have one prowling the corridors in every American school. Trump's grasp of the issue is about the same as every issue he confronts: that of a sheltered and pampered 10-year old with self-esteem issues.

Any for applause! Next he'll have a short back and side like Kim!

Since Scrote said exactly what I was going to say I will just have to tell a joke i just made up (it goes to different level, mind):

Donald Trump walks into a pub with lame duck under his arm. He goes up to the bar and the bar-keep said, "Waddle it be?" The duck says, "First tee, then applause!".

Trump never had any credibility speaking for people other than himself and his greedy horde - he has less now.

And about time!! This has been a serious problem for generations! a. k. a. Oh, FFS!! And next comes a warning about the possible risks of twisted ankles in genkans...

This is very suspect. And I am sure chikan will be lining up to buy it (or not) as some kind of soft-porn manual.

She made a bad investment... Perhaps.

Totally not surprised by this. In politics and business in Japan you are only guilty when you get caught. Then, when you are, you say 'sorry' and do your best to set up someone else to continue what you were doing as you watch contritely, 10% pay cut, from afar. The old guard just continue what they have always done and the young do not give a toss. (If anyone knows where this news has been addressed in the local media (esp. newspapers) I would appreciate a heads up.)

19 is not a minor. (Yes, yes, the Japanese laws SAYS it is but 19 is not a minor.)

I struggle to comprehend how you can get your toes licked against your will... Creepy mayor perhaps but I would not be surprised if he were set up.

Sanders (how does she sleep???) said "only those with minds "in the gutter""... which is right up Trump's alley. Every second Trump remains in power (did not say control...) is almost as demeaning to men as it is demeaning to women.

ICBM shot vs pot shot. Nice.

Surely Kim has to be Time's 'Person of the Year' based on their criteria that it be a person who most influences the world.