Japan Today

SapperJon comments

Posted in: WHO worker aims to raise $1 bil to cover U.S. pullout See in context

I wish my government would stop giving money to WHO along with stopping all foreign aid other than disaster relief. We give money to India and in return they give us scam call centres.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Osaka Expo turns to high-end cuisine to attract foodies See in context

I'm sorry Osaka but organised big exhibition events are not for us, they normally promise more than they actually deliver and are over priced for what you get. For that very reason we visited last May.

I was actually surprise to see only one poster advertising the event and that was at Namba station.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Venice extends tourist tax for 2025 See in context

We've stayed in Venice for 4 nights in February 2019 and I'm afraid to say the whole experience was under whelming. As a tourist you have to pay more than locals on public transport, a hotel tax per night. Everything is very expensive and basically once you've seen one little canal you've seen them all. St Marks square was party flooded and using any of the cafes in the square are only for the super rich.

There are so many beautiful cities to visit in Europe without going to the obvious ones, Like Venice, Rome, Paris or Barcelona. Our favourites have been, Lisbon, Florence, Krakow, Venice, Salzburg and Bern, not forgetting, Osaka, Kyoto and Okayama. Although anywhere in Switzerland is very expensive

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: PM Ishiba visits Osaka Expo venue to inspect progress of preparations See in context

We purposely based ourselves in Osaka to explore Western Japan taking full advantage of the Shinkansen network last year rather than this year purely because we were not interested in the Expo 25 event. And expected the train networks to be busier than normal.

Big Expos are normally a letdown as well, the Millennium Dome Expo in London was an example of the trend. The whole idea belongs in the past, ideas and examples of the future can be seen on the internet at the user's convenience.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Posted in: 30% of tourists to Japan experienced overtourism problems in 2024 See in context

We've visited Japan 5 times starting in 2004 and the last time was May this year. We based ourselves in Osaka near Shin-Osaka station to make use of our JR West rail passes for the first 8 days and a further 8 days staying next to Namba station. We booked all our Shinkansen trains at the same time without any problems, visiting Hiroshima, Okayama, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara and Hikone. Not once did we find any over crowding and very few white people. Strangely the only time we encountered any other English people were whilst visiting gardens in Okayama and Hiroshima.

The only time we experienced any over crowding was the Hiroshima Atomic memorial museum which I'm afraid to say was an horrendous experience, due mainly because of the masses of school children. The actual exhibits were very poor.

8 ( +18 / -10 )

Posted in: Ishiba criticized in Japan for 'bad manners' at APEC summit See in context

A gentleman always rises to welcome a visitor and shake their hands especially when it's a lady he's meeting, anything else is incredibly rude and shows a lack of manners.

21 ( +24 / -3 )

Posted in: Japan protests U.N. call for reviewing male-only imperial succession See in context

The UN is changing into a woke organisation outside of its original purpose. It's clearly up to Japan to decide on domestic law not some kind of third-world dominated organisation where influence is purchased by Russia and especially China

3 ( +15 / -12 )

Posted in: Japan's government in flux after election gives no party majority See in context

What a stale group of old men. Japan needs to elect younger politicians, especially more women. After all, aren't half the electorate female?

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4 ( +8 / -4 )

Posted in: Kyoto losing its luster as a school trip destination as tourist crowds continue to swell See in context

On a recent holiday in May to Japan, our fifth we based ourselves in Osaka firstly next to Shin-Osaka station to use our JR West pass and also to visit Hikone and Kyoto and later moved to Namba. We stayed in Kyoto on our very first holiday and went back to visit a couple of places we missed. For us, it didn't appear to be any busier than in 2008, and we saw at Kyoto station what could only have been nearly a whole senior school sat down outside waiting to board a train. And just like in Nara in 2008 we were approached by senior school children who had a range of questions to practice their English skills. We never mind this where ever we travel with similar experiences in Seoul. What we do mind when I ask is that they always assume we are from the USA which obviously is a little insulting in a light-hearted way especially as Americans don't speak English correctly along with miss pronunciation and spelling.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Posted in: Ishiba's drastic wage hike push may hurt small firms in Japan See in context

I'm amazed 1500 yen by the mid-2030's. I know every country is different but Japan is in the G7 along with,

UK 2230 Yen per hour

France 1893 yen

Germany 2016 Yen

All three have 28-30 days of paid holiday

So where do all the profits from the world's biggest car producer, along with all the other global Japanese companies, go?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Posted in: In Hiroshima peace park, visitors hope Nobel win will boost peace efforts See in context

Having visited in May, I was very moved by the experience all except for the museum, which was the worst experience my wife and I have ever had visiting a museum. You couldn't see any of the exhibits as you shuffled along in a hot, humid mass of schoolchildren and adults. It was so crowded that all we wanted to do was get out. Fortunately, the exhibit area is a relatively short corridor.

I was also struck by the lack of history about why an atomic bomb was initially dropped, yes tens of thousands of people were killed and maimed but think of the death toll on both sides if the Americans had needed to invade. I do think the second bomb was dropped too soon after the first, not giving the leaders time to gather reports to assess the likely outcome if they hadn't surrendered.

One thing is out of all the gardens we have visited in Japan over the years the one in Hiroshima was the most beautiful.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Posted in: Ishiba says ex-faction's missing income reports 'clerical error' See in context

800,000 Yen that's not even loose change to our new Labour prime minister who was given 6 million Yen for a few suits and another 582,000 Yen for a couple of pairs of designer glasses along with Taylor Swift tickets and a private box to watch football worth 155,000 Yen each time he attends.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Posted in: Japanese gov't admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo See in context

That's a bit risky to have all those old pensioners standing on the stairs like that, if one at the back fell over they'd all go down like nine pins!

That's got to be one of the oldest groups of politicians in the world.

-5 ( +8 / -13 )

Posted in: Pay-by-weight airfares are an ethical minefield See in context

In fairness a standard weight per height table should be compiled with a band set for each height with people being outside of this band should be charged accordingly. Going as far as reduced fares for people below the band for their height, which of course means that people who are obese will pay more and if morbidly obese pay for two seats.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Ishiba picks veterans, ex-PMs as execs for divided ruling party See in context

Does the Japanese electorate not trust younger politicians? Surely a 79-year-old has passed his prime and become stuck in the past. Japan could try having some 40-50 year olds in government, hopefully, they would have had experience in other businesses other than being lifelong politician's all being in the same frame of mind and the same club.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Welcome to Okayama, Japan's sunniest prefecture See in context

In May this year, my wife and I visited Okayama from Osaka, our main purpose was to visit the Korakuen Garden and the castle. We enjoyed our trip but were surprised by the amount of other English couples we came across. We English do like a good garden and castle, we also visited Hikone for its castle and the Shukkeien Garden in Hiroshima. We had on a previous holiday visited Himeji castle just after they took the scaffolding down along with Kokoen Gardens.

Japan is a stunning place to visit, we have visited 5 times over the years, and I'm afraid to say we won't visit again due to age.

We did notice that there were far more tourists from China this time which I'm afraid is not a good thing as we found them quite rude even by English standards. We have also noticed that more Japanese people can speak English but they assume all English speakers are Americans, how unintentionally rude of them!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Ubigi launches unlimited travel eSIM data plans for Japan See in context

Earlier this year we purchased one SIM card for my wife's phone and one eSIM for my Google phone as it won't work in Japan with a physical SIM card. We purchased from Mobal which has a UK distribution centre. They both worked seamlessly and were cheaper than UBIGI. And all Mobal's profits go to charity, so a win-win all around.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Meta and Spotify blast EU decisions on AI See in context

It's not about improving the lives of Europeans, it's all about the lack of growth in the massive US tech company's ability to grow profits. They already avoid paying taxes in those same countries.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Easy, convenient, cheap: How single-use plastic rules the world See in context

Here in the UK, the free issue of carrier bags stopped years ago and now costs 38 Yen for a thin one and anything up to 190 Yen for a bag for life which is replaced for free if it tears. The government has also banned plastic straws, cutlery, earbuds and takeaway polystyrene containers, it is complied with.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Posted in: We are considering the future of the entire public transportation system, but we must maintain public transportation in local areas even if it means using public funding. See in context

I'm not surprised there's a driver shortage, they'll all be trying to get to drive trains in the UK after the new Labour government gave drivers a massive pay rise. They now have a base salary of 12,730,000 Yen before allowances!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Kamikawa joins LDP leadership race; says she will build a new Japan See in context

Another old person who should have retired puts their hat in the ring. What is it with Japan and the USA choosing old people to be prime minister. Surely someone in their forties married with children would be a better pick to represent the Japanese public.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

Posted in: Japan PM hopeful Ishiba says complete exit from deflation crucial See in context

Another old man passed his retirement date and is living in the past. I don't understand this fascination with older politicians in Japan and the USA, is it because they are rich?

My local member of parliament is a 28-year-old woman, yes our prime minister is 63 but his team Angela Rayner 44 and Rachel Reeves 45 both have worked outside of politics.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Posted in: Kimchi no more? Climate change puts South Korea's beloved cabbage dish at risk See in context

The trouble with most Kimchi available in the shops has been pasteurised to prolong its shelf life, so it has no benefit to your gut bacteria. It needs to be refrigerated and even then it only lasts 3-4 months.

I only buy Jongga brand and most other live Kimchi made in the UK just isn't the same, in texture or flavour.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: June-August 2024 summer hottest ever recorded: EU monitor See in context

I was taught at school in the 1970's that we were coming out of a mini ice age from the 16th century. All this global warming information is mostly just away for politician's and celebrities to be in the news. The world has warmed and cooled many many times in its history.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Posted in: What do you think of Japan's koban (police boxes)? Would such community policing work in North American or European cities? See in context

Here in England there used to be police boxes and small rest rooms for walking beat police constables. The most famous police box was of course Dr Who's. Sadly they have long since disappeared as police no longer walk anywhere.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: Japanese gov't to use ¥989 bil in reserves to curb energy bills See in context

Here in the UK the new labour government have cut the pensioners winter fuel payment, worth a minimum of 40,000 Yen and it's like they will cancel a 10 yen reduction in petrol and diesel tax and raise the tax by another 10 Yen a litre. Meanwhile they've been rewarding civil servants and the union friends inflation busting pay rises.

The fuel companies never fully passed on the 10 yen reduction just getting greater profits just like Japanese companies apparently.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Posted in: Start of Taiji hunting season for dolphins, small whales postponed due to storm See in context

The world is repulsed by this unnecessary cruelty and all for what, a letting of blood lust. Japan is a great country but this doesn't reflect well just like the pointless killing of bulls in Spain.

5 ( +12 / -7 )

Posted in: Kishida tells 11 leadership hopefuls to remake LDP via election campaign See in context

As an outsider looking in, I've noticed all the potential candidates are old, all except Takayuki Kobayashi. Old people always look back to the past never the here and now or the future. Just look at the election for President in the USA.

8 ( +13 / -5 )

Posted in: Department stores, malls in Japan set up prayer rooms as Muslim visitors increase See in context

Providing one facility to be used by one group of people will cause resentment among the majority. Providing these rooms is a slippery slope to appeasement.

Having recently been to Dubai airport, I only saw signs for Muslim prayer rooms 2 for men and 2 for women, no other faiths were catered for!

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Posted in: Kishida announces he will step down in September, paving way for a new prime minister See in context

I never understood why some countries that elect/select old people to be in government, the USA and Japan are at the top of the list. Surely it's better to elect politicians in their mid to late forties that potentially have younger families to keep them grounded in the now rather than the past. And have experience and understanding of technologies.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

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