Shawn comments

Lee Quan Yew knew what he was doing when he created Singapore. You go do what he did, then I might listen.

@bass4funk

if the economy tanks, supporters will turn their backs on him. I truly think Trump cares about the US and will do everything to make it great, but he is going to have to find some stability in his cabinet eventually. Anyway, enjoy the chaos while it last; allot of Trumps decisions make sense, (including the wall) and I think he knows he might be a 1 term prez, and will get it all done no matter what. The democrats are a clueless and worthless bunch who can never get anything done (look at Emanuel and his boss in Chicago, and the continued mess there) Next term candidate is anybodys guess but I think you can rule Hilary out, as well as Sanders as well.

@deadforgood

"If you were affected by the shutdown, would you be happy because it aids Trump's wall or would you be upset with the decision because it affects you and your family?"

well, since Ive had to work many a Christmas and relocate at my own expense and "endure" other hardships that us private sector types have had to do for years, it really doesnt matter. I cant believe somebody would complain they had to work on Christmas..)

Warehouseman, Truck Drivers, IT Data Center folks, Retail, so many have to work and hustle, what is a holiday? A Federal Employee had to suffer? Most of them are on a holiday, even at work

"This infantile maniac stole Christmas for 800,000 federal employees "

Oh no! they didnt get a Christmas? I thought they got 30 paid vacation days + numerous Federal holidays + a plethora of other benefits the private sector cant afford to give out.

Poor things...)

@vinarius,

actually his views and rhetoric will probably increase his sales. There was a business hotel that was doing something similar a few years back, and I think it helped their business. I dont know why foreigners get excited about this, things in Japan will never change. Thats the first step to understand this place, and to deal with it.

at Dead4good,

dude the South is poor because they never industrialized like the North. There were some exceptions, but even today, some Southern states have the most Japanese companies of any state in the union and all your famous US made industry names are in the North. Due to the hot muggy climate, many of them are slow, but non union labor cheap, thus attractive to Japanese Korean and Euro industry.

they been talkin this mess for years, even elected a very outspoken spokesperson by the name of Shintaro Isihara, to lead them. Nothing will change, unless you change yourself.

Actually what he is saying is not racist at all, he is just presenting the future scenario of Japan. Plays out like this:

Vietnamese, Filipino, Indonesian etc come to Japan to change diapers and bedpans because the growing age explosion epidemic is crawling nearer to reality; tens of thousands of 80- 100 years old seniors that need extensive care in ryojin homes. the 50 - 70 years old crowd will do some of it, but not near enough. the 20 - 50 years old crowd are too busy working in service sector jobs, so there will be a huge demand for this work. So many of these SE workers will settle down, and marry Japanese women, to many of these J women who cannot find, or want, a local J mate. These SE foreigners will get burned out on the ryojin home work, and since they are now jammed in Japan due to their marriage and new family, will try and find more appealing local work, that the 20 - 50 J crowd is doing, and later want to climb the company ladder to management positions. Therein lies the friction, both with the SE long termer and the xenophobic Japanese doing the service sector jobs. The SE man / woman will argue the same arguement that I and other gaijin have been doing for years, that is "we pay taxes, have family here, langauge ability, etc etc." Thing is nobody cares, because the Japanese dont want you in their sector, only where they dont want to do the dirty work.

this is no brainer stuff. Singapore and other countries who have past experiences with vast numbers of their population addicted to drugs already know this; its why they have the death penalty for it now and instead encourage their youth to get MBAs and engineering degrees. There is no long term benefit from an artificial high.

"I for one say Japan should keep the one nationality policy in place, I wish the US would do the same"

Im not Japanese so I really dont care about that law but when it comes to the US, I agree. So many are critical of the US, and its policies, but just use the system to their advantage. I agree, should be a one way deal like Japan.

People create their own versions of reality I guess, but nothing here changes. I can walk out in the morning to take out the gomi, and I hear locks going..ka ching ka ching, I mean thats just what it is, Im a gaijin, I dont fight it or feel bad...I start laughing about it. There is an article here about Takeshi clinic shacho saying what most Japanese feel about us; so why be in denial?

"here but its been open to the world a long time and its time to start being the global citizen it wants to be in the economy socially as well."

dude thats never going to happen. Being exclusionary is part of being Japanese. You have to accept these facts and endure, or change yourself. Its why I cant understand why anyone with right mind would want to be a Japanese; its just going to be an uphill struggle of denial and torment.

yes, if you dont go down and swear before a consular officer, even after taking on Japanese citizenship, seems your US citizenship is still valid? So I guess some are just hiding it, or the J gov could care less? Its interesting. There is absolutely no way, even with all the idiots in the US now, that I would become a Japanese, or even remotely recommend it, but I guess as long as you dont raise your hand at the embassy, your good? There is like a 1 year window, and if you dont change your mind within that window, pretty much done for unless you marry a US citizen, then go apply for PR then try for citizenship, but who knows what State would say or think about that. Ive met some who regreted it. Your ciitzenship is your most precious asset, dont squandor it away.

When it comes to US law, I have read that the U.S. supreme court ruled that you must renounce your citizenship voluntarily, otherwise your US citizenship is still valid. Meaning, even if you gain Japanese citizenship and later decide you wont renounce your US citizenship, your still a US citizen. Written in passports seems to indicate something different; something to the effect that you can loose your US citizenship by becoming a citizen of another country. I wonder if the Japanese gov hunts down those who never renounced, and if so, what could they make them do? I would never advise anyone to become a Japanese citizen, just get the PR instead. Only way I could see any justification in it is for some asylum or medical breakthrough that required Japanese citizenship.

@Serrano,

Time will tell if it was a wrong decision. Who will rebuild Syria? Is there a reconstruct team ready?

I agree with almost all of Trumps decisions, especially when it comes to Japan and China, even Canada and Mexico. I thought the day would never come where we had ambassadors to Japan who actually cared about US interest here. I like the chaos that Trump brings, but I dont think it will be sustainable. Maybe he will get a 2nd term but people will get burned out on it. So far so good, though. Entrenched bureaucracy and and career government workers, who are disconnected from the people that pay them and the reality they are supposed to be aware of, they must hate him so bad..ha ha

..lets just say I like what I see...)

Kinda hafta agree with Wolfpack on this one; Mattis comes from the old school way of thought; overextended waste abroad = continued allied support. Problem with this paradigm is that its too easy for the continued wasteful projects and employees to remain; they are almost impossible to rid of, all under the umbrella of national defense that old school generals like Mattis believe in. I think Trump should look at Japan and the waste that goes on here, and around the pacific first. Pulling out of Syria? would reconsider it, but its what Trump does, promise on his campaign promises. Gotta respect him on that, even if its wrong.

I appreciate Mattis opinion on Russia and China, but the US needs to get their own act together when it comes to priority on weapons development and money expenditure. China now supposedly has a rail run now operable. where did they get that technology from? At least Trump is making efforts to stop this stealing and copying our technology. You cant have it both ways; massive Chinese immigration into the US then be surprised when top secret technology suddenly appears on their ships, beating you to the finish line.

something bad always fills the vaccum but if Trump has the US military train the locals and work it from the inside, maybe thats the plan. Trump is right though, Obama created the mess in Syria and Bush jr gave us Iraq

"Perhaps Japan should decide to get serious and actually buy a proper carrier. They should seek to buy older U.S carriers that are being phased out as part of the shift to the Ford class, but since there nuclear powered that could be the real challenge. By far the quickest solution"

Wrong. Carrier groups are used by super powers to project power around the globe. Japan is neither a super power and has few interest outside its borders. Mattis probably suggested they create a Marine Corps, which makes sense, as a quick reactionary shock force they are the most suitable troops to take on a Chinese invasion of any outlier islands. The Izumo could support such a landing force off shore.

as a show of force and future capability, I think japan should pursue this. Its not a carrier anyhow, its a kind of flat top, for a light infantry fixed vertical take off or rotary wing support operation, similar to the USMC MEU boats.

For japan to rearm itself against a 1 on 1 with china, they just dont have the numbers. When Japan invaded China during WW2, China was a disorganized mess, and Japan took advantage of that. China is not that way anymore; the yare a united nationlistic force to be reckoned with. I dont think Japan stands a chance against China; but these efforts will show they are serious about protecting their sovereignty, but as far as power projection, that aint gonna happen in these times. I see no concern.

@bullfighter,

kinda sorta agree on your support for the japanese justice system point, that is they want 100% proof and guilt before an acquittal or arrest, but the problem with Ghosn and other foreigner suspects, is the fact they are gaijin. This unspoken truth about Japan makes it very difficult to get a fair trial as they system is biased against you from day one for any criminal matter. I believe this is what Ghosn is experiencing now, but due to his competent and expensive lawyers, he can fight the good fight. The rest of us just get worn down and finally submit.

The Izumo is not a carrier, its just a flat top like the USN uses to transport USMC units, like a MEU. They are just copying the concept of a MEU. There is no threat at all. If they go all out and build real kubos or carrier groups, then I would start getting worried.

"Would be better to get the F22, if they refuse to sell, make our own or team up with the British which already invited Japan to join their program."

The US will not sell them the F22, only the scraps that have been scrubbed (F35) for them to copy/improve. Thats the whole intention. Basically the JSDF is trying to copy the MEU concept, a mini version of it. As long as they dont make war against the US again, I could care less. The Chinese and Japanese will be playing games forever, never an intention to make peace, allot of it whipped up by Ishihara years ago. Been there seen that.

@disillulsioned

100% spot on. They will still be playing the same "cant speaku engrish" 50 years from now, nothing ever changes.

When a Japanese wags their finger at me and ask "Nihongo wakaru" I just reply with "Do you speak English" the answer is always no and they start acting shameful because they worry others are watching. Im like, if you cant speak English, then this conversation is going nowhere. Works every time.

I dont think gaijin are trying to change the cultural make up of japan, I know Im not, (at this point, could care less about any of it) but at least learn English, so you can communicate with the rest of the world.

a porn star pay off and a business meet with russians doesnt qualify for anything. They are going to keep digging and reaching until they find "something" which will amount to nothing

speaking of offenses, I think every career bureaucrat (many in Japan) should have an audit done

on all of their "hardship" allowances and free time at tax payers expense. Every trade rep or other US person representing the government be held accountable as well. I think they will find that most of these people are doing absolutely nothing while getting paid for it by the national treasury (aka the US taxpayer). I dont care what kind of shade Trump did, if he is getting something done now, that is most important to me

For me, these are "high crimes and misdemeanors" but maybe Im too old school in thought

its just been nonstop lets "get this guy" coverage by CNN since day one. The corporate tax cuts, trade deals, stock market rally, North Korea progress, holding the Japanese and Chinese accountable for unfair trade practices and other important things that really matter to the US people never get mentioned. I respect the guys resiliency in this storm. Most career government bureaucrat types are worthless, and wouldnt last a year in the private sector. I predicted Trump would have troubles because he is not from that ilk. The ilk will do everything they can to get rid of him because he represents everything they hate.

Trump is not going anywhere; he isnt Nixon. This all allegedly happened before the election, and as a sitting POTUS, he isnt getting charged for any of it. All of this noise goes back to how the liberal media and dems got it all wrong and got spanked at the election, nothing more,nothing less. They have conspired to have him gone since day 1. They have never reported or allowed anything good that the man has done, and will stop at nothing to destroy him until his term is finished. There are many things I dont like about Trumps character, but what I do like, I like allot. I will never vote or support a Democrat or any other do nothing know nothing disconnected from reality bureaucrat again.

I see so many of you hating on Trump, but you live in a country where a few grams of weed get you 5 years of hard labor and human rights are a joke. interesting how many liberal types praise Japan, Singapore etc, while bashing a man who only wants the same thing for his country, to make it great again.

@mph 1212

depends on what you value in life. If its safety, conformity, conservatism, and stability, then Japan is the place for you. If its academic and employment opportunity, then its not.

you say you were raised around Chicago, understand the move but the US is a big place. I hear allot of people say "I moved from this or that place" but you can always move to another place within that continent. But if Japan works for you, to each his own.

They are doing this because they know the invetiable is soon to arrive; millions of old people with nobody to care for them, as the labor supply for good jobs will be low (young people) but the demand will remain the same. Young people will never work in ryojin homes. Thats all this is.

" Japan is Japan ; comply with its laws and you'll be just fine, be it Japanese national or foreigner."

not true :-)

once the cops arrive, fun begins. yes they listen to your story, but thats just part of the act

your already presumed guilty just because your a foreinger.