SaikoPhysco comments

"What's in a name"..... Shakespeare. My feeling on Family names; take the one you want to survive. If he has a Brother that already has kids and she is an only child.... take her name. But having two separate names.... unless they do not marry or add the hyphen it could become a problem. Survivor benefits can become an issue initially until things get figured out. And you know Japan..... if it isn't "black or white", chances are they'll just prohibit it.

This is scary..... going forward if you have negative comments regarding a company or product, and you post them online, you may need to defend yourself in a Court of Law. I've got no problem with that but.... large companies have deep pockets and they have lawyers. So even if you are right in what you say you could end up getting very screwed.

It is not so much the interrogations as much as it is a total lack of rights and ability to defend oneself in a timely manner.

I hate to say it.... but it definitely affects the way I handle dealing with things in Public in Japan. I go out of my way to make sure that everything I do cannot be construed as being illegal. On dark sidewalks at night if there is a Female walking nearby.... I do not try to pass her, since I walk pretty quickly, I wait until a streetlight or until she turns to go elsewhere. I am extra careful.... why? Because I never, ever want to deal with the Japanese "Justice", system. It is totally stacked against everyone and possibly more so foreigners.

The guy basically said "what if", which means he's trying to figure out a way to get kids off of their smart phones. It does not mean that he was totally serious.... he's probably just frustrated with this problem because it has become a pretty big issue. But when you really come down to it.... in general, it is the parent's that control things and set examples. The Mayor needs to look at better ways to educate parents. Which is, of course, difficult, because most Japanese families now have both parents working allowing kids more unsupervised time.

4,000 tons donated while an estimated 6.43 million tons went to waste. Of the 6.43 million tons, it is estimated that 55% was thrown away by the business sector. That works out to roughly 3.5 million tons. So... just over 0.001% of food that was thrown away went to food banks. Japanese pensions are declining quickly so going forward something needs to be done. There is plenty of supply and plenty of demand.

Right now on a Friday night there are probably 50,000 Japanese Corporate employees using company money out eating and drinking..... and that is probably a conservative number. You know.... the guys that always want a receipt even though they're not entertaining a customer.

Of course Ghosn has some guilt.... heck, I think he's an egotistical overlord but Nissan set him up. They knew that at some point they'd need to get rid of him so they developed a "poison pill". When push came to shove they activated the main ingredient. Nissan gaslighted Ghosn over the last few years in order to get the goods on him. You know Japanese companies.... everyone sucks up to the boss like he's a king or dictator.... they eventually turn into one.

It just keeps coming..... do you also get the feeling that Nissan is run by a bunch of 5 year olds?

I think I might invest in one of those "cases". You never know!

That a billionaire "businesssman" at the age of 44 still has these amazing hopes and dreams.... its either an attestment to his beautiful and pure sole, or that he's a complete fool.

It just shows that Iran's inept forces were in high alert expecting retaliation from the U.S. This is another unfortunate learning experience, but will we learn from it.

Damn.... I once met Carlos Ghosn years ago, I'm starting to fear for my safety!

Do you think maybe, all of a sudden, the Japanese Government might be thinking about a nice big "Aid Package", for Lebanon?

It is obvious that the Japanese Government was complicit in helping Nissan to stop the planned merger by Ghosn. There is no way Ghosn would get a fair trial in Japan.... I say try to find a neutral court outside of Japan and hold a trial there. The key word is "try"... because you know as soon as any location is identified the Japanese Government would quickly apply pressure or "gifts", to the country where the court is located. Ghosn did the right thing in leaving.....

The laughable part..... the power structures throughout Japanese Industry give those at the top tremendous non-transparent benefits. It is the Japanese answer to massive salaries like those in the West. They say their executives make nothing compared to Western execs.... but they're compensated in other ways. It is rife throughout Japanese industry. I'd be willing to bet, if you were to dissect Japan's top 500 companies, you'd find "off the books" compensation in probably 90% of them.... if not all. Japanese executives are vetted and slowly moved up over the years.... they are promoted based on their ability to cooperate and keep their mouths shut about things that are not on the books shown to investors. The higher you go.... the more dirty info you know. Till it gets to the point that you're complicit too and can't say anything yourself either way.

This is basically the same TPP deal that many other countries signed 2 years ago. So while Trump made like he was doing the USA a big favor by waiting and pushing for a better deal.... he got nothing extra. All he did was give other countries an extra 2 years of access to Japan at lower tariffs.... thus setting the USA back two full years. Trump needs to re-write "The art of the deal" title to something like "The are of Deception".

Good for Ghosn! I don't know if he's guilty or not.... but I didn't like how he was initially treated. I see so many corrupt Japanese executives not spend a day in Jail while Ghosn was sitting in one for months. His own company brought him up on charges..... that never happens in Japan.

Absolutely I can understand why they don't want to change.... but it does not mean that they should not. If I have an immediate option, I will now steer away from 7-11 stores and use others.

"A decision to spike the largely stalled deal"..... since when has the word "spike", meant to "cancel" or "terminate". Who translates this stuff?

Sure... and about 100% of foreigners feel stress from having to do things at work that are a total waste of time. You know.... like having to wait until 7 or 8PM until you feel you can get up from your desk to go home.

OK.... so she's on her period, she just told you. Now... how should you change your behavior towards her? This is what I don't get. We talk about women making us aware of it but not one word on what we should do after.

I think this is a very bad idea... making the female period more of a public issue will hurt more than it helps. If this continues "playing the period card", could become a well known phrase. Give women equal pay and equal opportunity, that is more important.

What Nissan did to Ghosn and how it was done.... it was an "et tu Brute" worthy moment. A bunch of insiders that were not willing to cede power and sacrificed their leader to keep it. And the Japanese legal system was complicit....

@Luis.... so you your agenda is more Nuclear Power Plants. Hey.... more power to ya!

LOL.... some of you really are so obtuse. No I'm not off the grid and yes I need power at night. I would go of the grid if Battery technology was better but it is not there yet. But that even said.... if 90% of Japanese homes had Solar... how much less coal do you think Japan would import? The point is to do what is possible to decrease the numbers now. Then when technology in various areas get hopefully better.... you upgrade to try to use even less coal. So many people talk about Solar like it needs to be PERFECT first.... this isn't a perfect world and it will take time and research before it gets even close.

I live in Tokyo.... our house has Solar Panels and they totally cover the cost of our electric needs. I look around our neighborhood and I see many new homes and I'd say maybe 1 in 20 or even 30 has a solar panel setup. The government needs to Mandate that all new homes be built with the use of solar energy in mind. But they don't do this.... maybe their coziness with large Power Companies is the problem.

Amazing... 9 years old! His parents must have put in quite a bit of time guiding him too.... so Congrats to them too for all their hard work.

Generally U.S. workers at Japanese Auto Manufacturers are paid and treated quite well. I know this because two of my friends work for them. One at Toyota and the other at Nissan itself. When I say treated well... they have very good job security and because of that they can securely plan their future without overdue worry. Nissan... at the top... is a piece of crap company... but when you get down a few layers there are thousands of good hardworking people.

I'd be interested to see a poll taken.... basically ask the wives of 1,000 salarymen in the Tokyo area. On average, during the work week, what time their husbands got home from work? Also, were they actually working late, out with a client, or just out drinking with cohorts on the company dime?