Sauron comments

Difficult to trust a system that lets Saikawa go scott-free.

All government officials and their families should be the last in line to be vaccinated. Perhaps that would provide the proper incentive for them to get the ball rolling.

It's probably too late now, but Suga and Abe and all the rest of the politicians who have influence over the vaccination distribution should have been LAST in line to be vaccinated.

No masks? How about a good old fashioned hankerchief?

Give them a 3% pay raise and they might forget about the 10% sales tax increase. How stupid does Abe think people are?

“From today Abenomics is entering a new stage..."

Did he really refer to his own economic plan as "Abenomics"?! A little full of himself isn't he?

Now the penal code doesn't consider adultery a crime nor it tries to characterize it as acceptable or not, given that what is involved here is sexual activities between consenting adults.

I'm pretty sure you are wrong. The Japanese penal system does consider adultery a crime. An acquaintance of mine had to pay restitution to the now ex-wife of a guy she was going to marry since he was still technically married to the ex-wife when their relationship started. Another acquaintance demanded (and received) monetary compensation from her ex-fiance when he decided not to go through with the marriage.

As for adultery being neutral under the eyes of the law, even between consenting adults, that's utter nonsense. Why hire private investigators to tail a cheating spouse? Why bring evidence of infidelity during divorce proceedings?

. . . the Chinese communist government is engaging in this massive propaganda effort to re-write the entire narrative of WW II for their own self-interests, and in their minds, their own survival.

Hmm, sounds very familiar. Have they started appealing to the international community to rewrite their history books yet?

This would be a great opportunity for those homeless families displaced by the Tohoku disaster. From what I've read, the government will be pulling the plug on their benefits within a few years.

How about giving the child up for adoption? Or if that takes too long, how about a baby hatch for small children? Anything would have been better than this. I have a Japanese colleague who was abandoned as a child / baby. I didn't think it would have been polite to pry about his earlier years, but I found out about this when he told me he didn't know when his exact birthday was or where he was born. He is a very pleasant and generous man, now with a family of his own. I wish this little boy was given the same chance.

Both "GPS signals and radio wave time-calibration"?! Can you say that again? Didn't register the first 30 times. . .

Japan, on numerous occasions, has apologized sincerely and at length.

Browny1 is correct when he points out that part of the problem lies in "the denials, the revisions,[and] the obfuscations...by senior politicians" But another major part of the problem stems from the refusal to recognize these apologies from the majority of Koreans:

As of 2010, 24% of South Koreans still feel that Japan has never apologized for its colonial rule, while another 58% believe Japan has not apologized sufficiently.[59] Some in the Japanese government have expressed exasperation at what level of apology is enough.

(Inspector Gadget's link was broken. Here it is again.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan

In Hong Kong, there are thousands of old style box air conditioners hanging off the windows off of the many high-rise apartments. The residents of these apartments are 100% responsible for making sure they don't fall and crush pedestrians walking below. There are multiple notices posted reminding people to check their air conditioning units regularly. This is the second time recently that I've read about an accident due to negligence due to construction oversights. (The other article was about another young woman who walked out of a door that was several stories up and opened to the outside of the building and fell to her death) Like Hong Kong, Japan should make clear to everyone whose responsibility it is before these accidents happen. 21 years old and in a coma. Poor girl.

@ u_s_reamer, I'm not saying that I believe your interpretation of Hachiko's motives, but I want to thank you for your original post. I've never heard that version of the Hachiko story. It was very informative and interesting.

The US, the British, the Germans, and the EU all voiced their public condemnation, why haven't ANY middle eastern countries done the same?

First and foremost, the responsibility lies with the restaurant's owner(s). They must have known of the danger before moving in and setting up shop. If they are going to be serving drunk patrons, they should have made their place of business safe of hazard. A single bar is not idiot-proof. How many times have we heard of drunken salary-men walking under railroad crossing-bars into an oncoming train? As for laying blame on the architect, this odd door doesn't seem like it was mistakenly placed. It may well have been an accepted architectural practice since other posters have seen similar doors about Japan. A terrible tragedy that could have been easily avoided.

It's unfortunate, but women should think twice about living on the first floor. I've had many female friends who lived on the first floor of their buildings who've had their apartments broken into, stalked, harassed, etc. First of all, living on the first floor, you are highly visible to predators and non-predators alike. You're more likely to be noticed coming in and going out of the door. Also, your laundry is more likely to be noticed, especially hanging out on the balcony. One deterrent is to leave a pair of men's boots or shoes outside of the door to give the impression that a man is present.

The video should be "leaked" for everyone to see. End this ridiculousness once and for all.

U.S. justice officials are investigating Japanese auto part maker Takata . . .

The opening line of the article seems pretty clear to me where these airbags are made.

I wish the bosozoku would follow suit and kill themselves off.

I don't usually agree with Inose, but hopefully views like his will get the ball rolling:

The government must acknowledge this as a national problem so that we can head toward a real solution.

Although I'm not condoning her actions, I can imagine the cross-cultural difficulties that she has had to endure. Look at the broader picture, she needs counseling and support.

Never mind the distance traveled on foot. How about surviving 11 days on 2000 yen?!