Saxon Salute comments

Posted in: NHK governor praises rightist's suicide in 1993 as glorifying emperor See in context

So when Abe said he wanted more women in prominent roles, he meant his own hand-picked nut-cases.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Posted in: NHK manager's Nanjing denial no problem, gov't says See in context

I was out drinking with a 27-year-old girl on Friday night. The subject of Abenomics and Abe in general came up. She told me that not only did she dislike Abe and all he stood for, her entire circle of friends did too. I was quite surprised, but she reminded me that the LDP is elected by an unconstitutional system which allows elderly people (particularly) in the countryside to skew the vote. 1 vote in the countryside is worth about 2.3 votes in the city.

A majority of Japanese adults did not vote for Abe, but a majority of those who voted (mainly the elderly) elected him. So old fogies like Hyakata represent the Japanese voting public, but we shouldn't make the mistake of believing they represent a majority of Japanese. Face it, if you are young and female, you are not represented here at all, and there is nothing to vote for. Old women vote Abe and LDP, younger women don't vote, thus we have the politicians and "public servants" that have been voted for.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Posted in: NHK chief apologizes in Diet for 'comfort women' comments See in context

aussie-musashi, some of those posters have been defaced near where I live.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: NHK chief apologizes in Diet for 'comfort women' comments See in context

I could swear I just read the words, "NHK, truth and journalism" in one sentence. NHK has long been a government mouthpiece. Now it is little more than a propaganda channel run by a man Abe "backed", with Japan's new secrecy laws in place to further prevent any truth spilling out. The suppression of free speech is part of Abe's agenda, so no wonder at all that an opinion different from Abe's was hushed.

17 ( +17 / -0 )

Posted in: Over 70% say they don't feel any benefit from Abenomics: poll See in context

70% only? I thought around 85% would feel this way by now. In April we will have tax increases, then again the following April, and probably again and again and again. There is no "Abenomics", there is only the normal LDP policies of weakening the yen and spending borrowed money on pork-barrel projects. Meanwhile prices will rise (inflation) due to monetary easing, but salaries will not rise for most because there is no improvement in the domestic economy. Japan needs inflation to service its debt, but Abe's policies were not made with the majority in mind and will do nothing good for the vast majority of Japanese, particularly the retirees who voted for him, and the working families.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Posted in: Things Japanese women love (and hate) about Japanese and foreign guys See in context

Strangerland, quite right. None of these silly articles written for Japanese audiences can get their heads around the idea that a non-Japanese person is not a white American, just like ANA couldn't.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

Posted in: Foreign men sound off on difficulties of having a Japanese wife See in context

Strangerland, it's not just the reading, it's the meeting. In my 20 years in Japan, meeting someone happily married to a Japanese girl (Japanese or non-Japanese hubby) is something of a rarity. Most people I know earn a reasonable salary, 500,000 a month minimum I would think, but the wives still take it all and hand them a pittance, particularly the Japanese professionals I know. My best friend here is a Japanese doctor, and he doesn't even own a wallet. Mind you, he is very happily married, whereas most people I meet seem not to be. Some salaried workers I know earn 10-million-yen a year easily, but put up with a system of only having 30,000-yen a month for themselves. Lunch is a bento or a conbini sandwich and onigiri. It's their choice to be treated like this, but they say their wives are too unpleasant to discuss things with. If non-Japanese go the Japanese way, they end up very unhappy in my experience, and the complaints are not about wifey eating tofu, not by a long shot.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Posted in: Foreign men sound off on difficulties of having a Japanese wife See in context

Quite a few non-Japanese I know give their entire salary to their wives, beg her for some pocket money when they want to go out, then complain about this state of affairs. When I ask them why they don't give her house-keeping instead of entire salaries, they ask me, "Do you have any idea how unpleasant my wife can be?" I then ask them why they are married to this woman if she is so unpleasant, and they tell me that if they attempted divorce, they would never see their children again. In the vast majority of cases foreign men can be happily married to Japanese women, but this is tested when children are involved. Japanese men tell me the same thng though. They wouldn't divorce because of their children and the social stigma, but they find their wives unpleasant the majority of the time. It sounds like most Japanese and non-Japanese men are unhappily married to Japanese women. The Japanese have the least sex of anywhere according to resent surveys and the most sexual dissatisfaction going. No wonder foreign spouses who weren't ready to be treated as ATMs and didn't want the sex button switched off so early have issues.

http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/the-brazilians-might-do-it-more-but-sexual-satisfaction-in-india-tops-the-chart--the-new-international-sex-survey-155505635.html

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Posted in: ANA apologizes over racial stereotyping in new TV commercial See in context

I don't find this offensive, just pathetic. Did they ask a single non-Japanese person about changing their international appeal? I fly ANA to London, and it is easily the best economy flight going. It whips JAL, BA and VA. It has a 34-inch seat pitch in economy and the seat reclines in its own shell. It is luxury compared to the others. I wouldn't ever fly economy again with any of them. Why doesn't ANA show off its additional space and comfort to appeal to westerners instead of the traditional big nose and blond wig? Do not avoid ANA because of this silly ad. Avoid crappy airlines that want to crush your legs for 12 hours before you avoid ANA!

9 ( +16 / -9 )

Posted in: Rooney issues rallying cry to United faithful ahead of Swansea clash See in context

Man U were a footballing goliath until they met their David. In all fairness though, Moyes did not inherit a brilliant young squad of hungry players. Sir Alex should have strengthened MU over the last two seasons, but he didn't. Moyes does not have a squad that can compete with Man City or Chelsea, neither does he have the funds to compete with several others. MU was a great side due to the depth and strength of their squad, for which Ferguson deserves a lot of credit. But when Ferguson came in and had to rebuild, he didn't get instant success either. Moyes deserves a good chance and some real money to spend.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Nissan unveils black taxi model for London See in context

£1 = US $ 1.6397 . 30000 pounds does not equal 36000 US dollars.

I think it looks okay. The current ones are iconic, but due a more modern look.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Abe wants to explain Yasukuni visit to China, S Korea See in context

Mitch Cohen, it is B, but he also suffers from A to be fair to him.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Posted in: Japanese college students struggle to answer basic astronomy questions See in context

Just google Monty Python's Galaxy Song and you'll get all the answers you need, sort of. I've played this to a lot of Japanese students in my time:

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned A sun that is the source of all our power

The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see Are moving at a million miles a day In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour Of the galaxy we call the 'milky way'

Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars It's a hundred thousand light years side to side It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide

We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point We go 'round every two hundred million years And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions In this amazing and expanding universe

The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding In all of the directions it can whizz As fast as it can go, the speed of light, you know Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is

So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure How amazingly unlikely is your birth And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Gov't calls attention to risks of Lasik surgery See in context

I've done it, so have 2 of my brothers and many of my friends. The main problem is night vision, with slight halos and small starbursts at night. I am uncomfortable driving at night after Lasik, but I don't know anyone who has had other problems. My advice is to check several clinics and make sure you're comfortable with one. If performed badly, you could lose your sight completely, but there is no risk of this if you go to a well-reputed clinic. As with all things, cheapest is not necessarily best.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Japanese cuisine added to world heritage list See in context

ozymandias, I totally agree. I have never been so disappointed with any nation's food as I have been with Japan's. Japanese cuisine has 2 basic varieties: bland and slightly salty. I admit it's healthy, but that's about it. They're really welcome to it as far as I'm concerned, especially the vegetables that taste like they've been in the sea for a while.

-1 ( +12 / -13 )

Posted in: Elderly people's manners increasingly deplorable See in context

I don't think they're getting any worse. There were quite a few rude old people 20 years ago too.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Posted in: 'Jejeje,' 'omotenashi,' 'baigaeshi,' 'imadesho' voted top buzzwords for 2013 See in context

GW, me too. I banned the Japanese TV from even being switched on in my house many moons ago, so happily I don't even know who any of these announcers are. Hurray!

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Posted in: Ishiba under fire for comparing state secret bill protesters to terrorists See in context

Wonder if he's going to ban the black vans as terrorist instruments any time soon. No, didn't think so. It's all one way with the LDP and Japan's rightists. Protesting a vaguely-worded bill that removes our right to information and lessons personal freedoms is terrorism, driving around in black vans screaming for violence against ethnic Koreans (terrorising people) is tolerated.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Posted in: Hot springs are passe - Japan's tourist towns covet casinos See in context

geronimo and others are spot on. Casinos will bring crime and misery. I can't think of many things I'd less rather do than sit in a boiling hot bath full of men, but replacing onsens with casinos is not a great idea.

1 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Japanese airlines say they will obey China's air zone rules See in context

Thunderbird2, what you read on here are often just belligerent comments by proud keyboard warriors. Some of the posters are paid, others are blatant nationalists. I also support Japan's continued rule over senkaku, but when you read people advocating war (even nuclear war) over this, you have to shake your head and wonder if these people are for real. Notice how they want someone else to get on civilian planes and fly them into dangerous situations. They aren't thinking of chartering one and being the catalysts for war themselves. Let's hope cooler heads prevail as this little dispute is not worth any lives.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Posted in: Japanese airlines say they will obey China's air zone rules See in context

Why would the Japanese stop flights to China? Nearly all of Japan's tourism is from China. Civilian airlines need to comply because if they don't no one will board their planes. Japanese military doesn't need to comply, nor does US military (the old chant: "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough" springs to mind) but civilian airlines cannot risk being show down just to prove a point.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Posted in: China warns North Korea; blames Japan for tension See in context

Skeeter27, they should all step back and agree to start dialogue, but they can't. Japan is run by right-wing revisionists and China is run by communist extremists trying to get even. Both have warped views of history and deal in absolutes, 100% blaming the other for everything with no ability to see a shade of grey.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Posted in: China sets air defense zone over area containing disputed islands See in context

Anyone who thinks the current situation is 100% the fault of China or 100% the fault of Japan is biased and misguided. Ishihara pushed by changing the status quo of the islands and a series of tit-for-tat moves have followed. Belligerent nationalists on both sides want to cheer their own country on in a war that they would personally go nowhere near. Japan and China should have been engaged in a positive dialogue about senkaku many years ago, but the political elites in both countries are too right-wing and too nationalistic to do anything sensible. It is really time for dialogue and for cool heads, not for getting ever more fired up and cranking up the rhetoric, which both sides are continually guilty of.

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

Posted in: Protests held for second day over secrecy bill See in context

This bill will fly through both houses. Abe is again using the phony China threat to push his real agenda. This bill says that government ministers can decide what information to keep from the public with a threat of ten years in prison for those who tell inconvenient truth. The whole country should rise against this, but only a few thousand will protest and this will soon become law. It's a real shame, but Japan's basic freedoms are being eroded. The media is already very compliant, especially NHK.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Posted in: Tokyo governor admits receiving Y50 mil from scandal-hit Tokushukai See in context

tmarie, yeah, shock headline: "Japanese politician, male in late 60s, not entirely honest perhaps." In other news the desert is hot and it rained in Wales this month.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan growth outlook wilts on poor spending, exports See in context

The only real arrow is currency manipulation and Japan is experiencing the pluses and minuses of this policy. Growth based on exports, yes, an increasingly sluggish domestic economy with poorer consumers, yes. The real questions remain. How can consumers facing tax hikes and inflation but no wage increases possibly increase their long-term spending? Who is going to repay the colossal national debt? How do we deal with modern demographics? How do we pay for an increasing number of elderly who are living longer than ever?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: School textbooks to be revised to reflect gov't view on history See in context

Abe is a right-wing nationalist. No one should be remotely surprised that his revisionist agenda is now surfacing. His grandfather PM Kishi, a man accused of war crimes but never charged, taught him not to believe in Unit 731, Nanjing Massacre, coerced comfort women, Bataan Death March or any of Japan's atrocities. Abe was heavily indoctrinated as a child and has always been an extremist. He wanted to rescind on Japan's apologies for its past, and announced this in the media before chickening out. He wants Japanese children to grow up being instructed in patriotism, nationalism and nihonjinron the way he was raised. Shimomura says there will be a "sense of balance". Yeah, right.

Abe-sanctioned textbooks will not teach history. They will obfuscate and will attempt to confuse the next generation with the warped meanderings of Japan's right-wing elite. Abe believes the Japanese people have too much freedom. He believes the (painfully controlled) Japanese media has too much freedom. He thinks Japanese education is too liberal. He also believes he has the mandate to change these things, and he's right about that one. He is going to move forward with these plans. Give it 5 years, and even writing your opinions on JT might be dangerous.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

Posted in: The secrets behind 10 Japanese food pairings See in context

I will never understand how anyone can think not cooking a fish and adding wasabi to it makes it a unique gastronomic delight. It is just chest-beating. The food here is bland and anyone who thinks this cuisine is #1 must have never eaten anything from China, India, Italy, France, Thailand etc.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Posted in: Japan economic growth halves in July-Sept quarter See in context

Abe has never made any sense. His policy requires people to spend more money domestically as their taxes and costs (prices) are increased. He is totally reliant on the 14% of the economy that is export-based and on stimulus (huge pork-barrel projects) that the country has no way to pay back. Wait until April for the real crash.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: Temperatures plunge in many parts of Japan as chill sets in See in context

From too hot to too cold didn't take long this year eh.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Recent Comments

Popular

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites


©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.