Shipwrecker comments

I would probably avoid airplanes and airports right now, as they are probably higher risk than most places. However, if you are already in Japan, now might be a good time to go to places that are usually too full of tourists to enjoy, like Kyoto.

While parents can offer good advice, if what they want is the deciding factor in what is a pretty important life decision, then I think you are probably better off at a big Japanese company that will slot you comfortably at the bottom of a controlling hierarchy. SMEs would be better off targeting candidates who are capable of making their own decisions.

@mariasjapan

If you're spending a long time in the park with small kids, they're pretty useful. Littlest ones can have a nap out of the wind and direct sunlight while the big brothers and sisters carry on playing.

If the age of adulthood is 20, surely high school students should be eligible for child welfare support too.

My brother-in-law is from Saidaiji so I've entered this with his team in the past. The cold is not so bad because of the sheer number of people. What I wasn't ready for was the brawling. I saw one guy smash his collar bone as he was flung down the podium steps. After that I hung around the edge of the mob. I'd rather be cold with all bones intact thank you.

@AMS

Klopp has a record of using new players sparingly until they are fully integrated into his system. Minamino's time will come, but it probably won't be this season.

No specific age, but once the house is paid off and the kids are grown up and self-sufficient (fingers crossed), I hope to gradually get more selective about the work I accept until I'm mainly taking on projects that I'm interested in. Ideally I'd be doing a few half days a week that I can fit around gardening, hobbies, and travel. Like several people above, I've already completed stage 1 (move to the country).

Even if you can't get close to the Aso crater, the drive up there and the surrounding scenery is lovely. Well worth a drive in spring or autumn.

It is a nice idea and would help make places like hospitals a little less unbearable. However, presenting it as a solution for worker stress is just marketing rubbish.

Thorntons Alpini (although I also have a secret love for the really cheap baking chocolate you get in 100 yen stores)

Moving it back a few months would also mean holding it in a period with more reasonable temperatures, which would be good for both athletes and spectators.

For a second I read that like you ended up marrying Debito.

Warm cocktails in an ice room sounds awesome. Although I once went to a party at a hotel where the bar and the tables were made of ice. If you put your drink down and didn't pay attention, it would slide away from you.

I don't think they are a substitute but they can be a complement. I think meeting people in-person is a basic human need, but online friendships mean you can connect with people on the other side of the planet. It's all good.

I wouldn't say its a surprise that China is top. If you've ever been anywhere that has a druqstore and a Don Quixote close together in Tokyo or Osaka, you've probably seen a Chinese shopping tour of about 30 people led by a tour guide with a flag going from store to store stocking up on cosmetics, electronics, nappies and stuff.

Going to have to search for my much read, dog-eared copy of the Saga of Erik the Viking next time I go to my Dad's house so I can pass it on to my kids. Thanks for all the laughs!

I think only having two electable parties encourages us vs. them thinking, meaning one side will always be unhappy no matter who is in power. It also leads to stagnation as each party spends a lot of time and effort rolling back the changes made by the other party. A realistic third or fourth option might encourage more pragmatism and compromise. Still, I'd probably take the two party system in the US over the one party system in Japan.

How on earth would they enforce this? As a younger brother, I would have loved to have a law like this when I was little. "Let me have a turn or I'll tell the police how much time you've spent gaming."

Roundabouts with multiple lanes and lots of exits are a nightmare and result in indecision and sudden lane changes. Keep it simple and I think it is safer.

Friends in the UK are referring to it as "Megxit"

That summer is not too long and hot and that we get a proper spring and autumn.

An old girlfriend once knitted me a cosy for my member to "keep it warm." It even had a drawstring to stop it falling off. To this day i'm not sure if it was thoughtful or a massive red flag.

Agreed. I love the World Cup but I think holding it too often would be a disaster. The fact that it is every four years means that players only have a few chances to compete during their careers. This gives the knock out games a real edge because it might be the last chance to play at a World Cup for a lot of the players on the pitch.

Whether you like it or not, here we are all discussing it on a news website. If it was a more sensible campaign, I'm pretty sure that the people it's targeting would not even give it a second thought.

The internet is a dangerous place. Try Googling your name and/or your email address. You’ll be surprised what comes up.

Just tried it. Not a single result was about me. I guess there's an upside to having a really common name.

Good on the girl for noticing and reporting it. It says he was arrested under the anti-stalking law, but what kind of punishment would he get for this?

Avoid getting too drunk by eating so much you don't have room for anything else.

Avoid overeating by drinking so much you pass out early in the night and are too hungover to eat much the following days.

Problems solved.

I send New Year's cards with a picture of my kids and a short, handwritten message to older family members. They still send me birthday cards, so it feels nice to do something in exchange (although I guess it is lazier than actually remembering their birthdays and sending a card then).

Workaholics will find a way to work no matter what. If the technology was not available they would just stay at the office. The problem here is that it gives bad employers a tool to try and pressure employees into working during their downtime. I would like to see a 'right to disconnect' law brought in like the one in France which protects people who don't look at work emails outside of work.

Meanwhile, just down the road Bury has been expelled from the Football League after going bust.

Research in the US showed that depression and suicide has risen dramatically among junior high school students since social media became prevalent. This is not nearly as pronounced among high school and university students, so they think it is because younger teens' brains are not mature enough to handle the effects of social media. Mechanisms designed to addict adults (such as "likes") have a supercharged effect and they don't have enough perspective to filter the comments they receive. Then you factor in things like cyber bullying and the stranger danger referred to by the professor in the comment.

As a result, I'll be trying to keep my daughters off social media sites until they are at least high schoolers. Looking forward to that fight...