Samantha Ueno comments

And Becky taking notes on Yaguchi's lecture lol

This would be so cool! and being the leader of an internationally successful rock band AND a renowned classical pianist who played for the Emperor, Grammy Awards...makes him still pretty damn relevant.

The guy is a perv and a drunk, he should have been kicked out of the industry years ago but everyone was too afraid to reprimand their "old boy".

Hmm...who would I want the world to see? X Japan, or at least Yoshiki, he is a national treasure and already has composed world-famous songs. Hikawa Kiyoshi he is enka, a huge player in the genre, but still somewhat young and hip. Morning Musume, they have been the national girl idol group for 15 years, before AKB, and they keep reinventing themselves, the girls work super-hard and are talented to boot. Current lineup, or if you like, a huge reunion. Amuro Namie, I am actually not a fan myself, but she has been around longer than Ayu and her singing and dancing is superb, and she doesn't overdo it like certain other aging female popstars (::cough:: Madonna) Yazawa Eikichi, he has a cult fan following like SAS but is more of a showman, could get an international crowd on its feet no problem.

seven children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grand children and 14 great-great grandchildren,

LOL a math problem gone wrong! number almost doubles and then halves? hello low birth rate! I doubt that suddenly half his grandchildren were gay and the other 25% were infertile.

of course the punks should be punished.....but omg this was funny.

no gangnam style on Kohaku? boo. They did the numa numa song when it was popular that year!!

I actually identify with this, I felt more comfortable wearing a mask on the train, I would get less "gaijin" stares.

My husband is a Japanese chef, and very picky and strict about rules. He usually mixes the wasabi and shoyu, at home and at kaiten-sushi or izakaya, but the few times we've gone to a "nice" place he doesn't mix.

Gotta hand it to Simon Cowell for knowing what will sell! I remember watching the X Factor and thinking week after week, why are these boys still in?

Japantoday really, really needs to check facts before posting articles (and re-posting from other websites) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/22/stav-strashko-toyota-commercial_n_1822990.html?icid=hp_canada_top_art Huffington Post has it right, big surprise. Stav Strashko is a 100% male model, not transgender. Just happens to be androgynous.

LOL, husband's grandparents asked me if I could eat natto every. time. we. went. there. To be fair grandma is a little senile and they live in Mito.

My one month old gets fussy if she starts getting hot and sweaty in the sling! I can't imagine the torture that 5 month old went through. Sickening. She should get life at least.

partner of two years...14 month old son....well they didn't waste too much time did they?

I enjoy his books. Especially 裸の王様, where he questions a lot of things about Japan, including the TV shows where people just go to restaurants and eat. He said "Why would I want to watch someone else have a good time?"

I have a week old baby girl and I could never think about hurting her. I love every minute of taking care of her.

My husband and I love raw liver, we live in the US now so we can't eat it anyway but in Japan we would regularly order 3-5 portions between the two of us when going to our local motsu place. Never got sick from it, once. We ate beef and chicken liver, and even turtle liver when he made suppon at home. If the people preparing it have common sense there is no problem. In summer just to be safe they would sear the outside.

Licensed fugu chefs do NOT leave in ANY amount of poison, the "tingling and numbness" of the lips is an urban myth. My husband is licensed and I have eaten fugu prepared by him several times. It is a mild flavored white fish, I have had the sashimi, nabe and karaage. If it is prepared by a licensed chef there is no danger. It's the idiots who catch it themselves or buy it illegally thinking they can copy a diagram from Google that end up dying. Even at the Tsukiji, my husband has to show his license to be able to by unprepared fugu. Also, the article states the training takes "5 years" but my husband got his in less than a year with super-intensive study in Kanagawa and Tokyo. However the licensing does vary by prefecture. There is a written test that not only involves food safety and procedures but extensive study of the different varieties of fugu, and a skills test in which you have to successfully cut and separate the fugu correctly and with no chance of cross-contamination (using separate cutting boards, knives, towels, receptacles, etc.) in about 15 minutes. He used videos, practiced at home using "non-edible practice fugu" from Tsukiji, and went to a hands-on class every few weeks. It's a very intense process and that is precisely why eating fugu from a licensed chef is safe.

They actually did a full medical check on her on one TV show to find out how and why she can do what she does....her stomach is longer than the average person's and stretches to fit more....also yes, her metabolism. When she eats her body temperature actually goes up several degrees to burn off the calories as she is eating. She can eat as little or as much as she wants. Amazing, really.

Oh no, a tattoo! Save the children! If they see it they will surely be corrupted! Wait....both me and my husband have tattoos, and we're going to have a baby, does that mean we will definitely be unfit parents?

LOL Yubaru and tmarie, I have no idea who ICONIQ is so I just assumed it was a man when I saw the headline. But anyway, good for them. Hope they at least try to use some kind of birth control until after they're married.

I don't see what this has to do with Japan other than they might bring Sister act here someday somehow. I saw it this past winter in NYC, my highschool senpai Marla plays Sister Mary Roberts, it was amazing seeing her on Broadway! My husband has been to NYC 3 times and saw 42nd Street and Chicago before on Broadway and he said this was the best he's seen so far. Even if you're not a fan of the movie, the music in this is so exciting, and the songs give so much more development to all the different characters. You literally want to jump up and sing with the choir at the end, there is so much energy!

Last year in Tokyo when they reduced lights and AC in the trains and other places it was great! Less light makes indoors cooler anyway, and as long as you have air circulation it's not so hot. And they had the power consumption charts on the TVs in the trains and stations and I don't recall it ever going above 80% or so, so rolling blackouts seems very unlikely.

I can't speak for the other cities, but in New York and Tokyo it's extremely easy to navigate by train. Even if you don't know how to get to your hotel from the train station, you can save so much money by going to any major train station in town directly from the airport and then getting a taxi from the station.

Last summer rolling blackouts were not necessary, the usage never went over 80% of the capacity even in peak times. I spent 3 summers in Japan, did not turn on the AC in my apartment once. If you have a fan and drink lots of water AC is not necessary.

Why are other people having so many problems bringing your foreign spouse to the US? We started the process for hubby's green card in 2009, got the first step approved right away, then when we decided to move in 2010 we did the other step. Medical exam, proof you can support yourselves after moving to the US, and a short interview was all that was needed. The green card was approved and sent 2 months later to the US, and then the social security card followed soon after. No. Problems.

wow, people are uptight. I wouldn't care if some overseas celeb came to America and made remarks about the food and getting diabetes and heart disease....they would be right!

She's like a Japanese Madonna....she just never gives up trying to stay young.....but not doing a very good job.

3 year olds don't have a mature sense of time or good short-term memory because their brains and bodies are developing so fast. I've seen it in my work with 3 year olds. I teach one-on-one for 50 minutes and a lot of children 3 or 4 years old have no problem separating from their parent in the beginning, the parent says "I will be back after the lesson is over" and the child has been to 20 lessons now so this is not a new routine, but one or two times during the hour they WILL ask "Where's Mommy/Daddy? Are they coming now?" Some of them will try to head for the door! So dropping out for "only 5 minutes", even if you explain to the child in detail where you are going and how soon you will come back, is something you simply cannot do with a 3 year old. They WILL forget and they WILL look for you.

US healthcare system is not the greatest in the world. I'm pregnant and will have a homebirth with midwife because I do not trust the hospital to do what is best for me and my baby, rather than what is most convenient and will make them the most money. Plus the infant mortality rate in the US is much, much higher than most developed countries that still use midwives and practice natural childbirth.