rollthedice comments

Really? As far as I know the shooting had nothing to do with the movie. Seems weird to me.

This is nothing new for Japan and has been going on for a long, long time. I have been here for 20+ years and it always amazes me that even people who literally torture or starve their children to death get off with a slap on the wrist. There was a story about 10-years ago of a couple that admitted raising their child as an animal, making him sleep out in the balcony, just giving him scraps of food until he finally died. The logic is you must be crazy to kill your own children so they can't really be held criminally responsible.

I don't think you need a guide to climb in the alps. I successfully climbed Japan's 5 highest peaks this past season and although a bit tough they are not overly technical. I often drive up on Friday night, sleep in the car and then climb up Saturday and descend on Sunday. Staying in a mountain hut is a bit expensive (7 to 8 thousand yen including dinner and breakfast) and quite crowded, bring earplugs or you won't be able to sleep due to snoring! On the other hand your climb is going to be at least twice as hard carrying up a tent, sleeping bag and mat, stove, food ect.. For experienced hikers I highly recommend Shirouma-dake near Hakuba and Tsurugi-dake in Toyama. Also Yarigatake and Hotakadake in Kamikochi.

Does anyone know why there would be so much radiation in the trash they are burning??

I too am waiting on my dosimeter to arrive. I keep feeling either I am paranoid or 99% of the Japanese population is unaware that a major nuclear accident occurred in their country. I met a woman last week who is now 5 months pregnant and going out of her way to buy Fukushima produce to "support the farmers". Utter insanity.

Supporting the farmers is noble. Supporting the farmers by buying and eating contaminated food not so smart. I still can't believe this is safe.