skysurfer comments

"Travel restrictions"??? No....!! BAN BAN BAN!!

Never experienced it first hand while living in Japan, but it seems a lot of people (mostly men) hold it all in a lot more than we in the West. But when the breaking point finally gets reached, they are already beyond reasoning with. This may have been a very twisted cry for help, but all he's going to get now is a long prison sentence with doubtless minimal mental health care. We don't really know the whole story. His boss might have been constantly riding him or threatening to fire him. It's a dangerous game playing with someone's life support and financial security.

Tell me another country where, while riding my bike home in the dark, a neighbourhood Koban cop standing outside his tiny booth, flags me down and points out that my bike light is getting dim. He then proceeds with the assistance of his partner, to replace the batteries in my light, and satisfied with their work, send me on my way and with a suggestion of an alternate route that would be shorter and better lit. Slow night at the Koban? Maybe, but get lost or need help anywhere in a major city and there will be a police officer somewhere within walking distance. I went back a couple of days later and gave them some extra battery packs and some snacks as a thank you. They were all smiles and of course as polite as they always are.

No one has commented on the real problem, the giant baby in the room if you will.... Young people are having fewer and fewer children. Japan has negative population growth the last I checked and that ain't good, folks. instead of focusing so much on spreading out the welcome mat for more foreign labour, how about enacting some real changes to attract couples to get married and have families. Practically the entire population is educated or at least have finished high school and something afterwards. Bringing in foreign workers is just a short term solution that had better not become the norm in the long run. If you have lived in Japan, and especially one of the large cities and ridden on the trains, you probably feel that Japan has too many people and that some negative population growth would be welcome, but it's completely the wrong thinking. The reason the whole country runs so well in most of the sectors is because everyone has a role to fill, everyone has a job. I sincerely hope that young people here can feel more positive about the future enough to want to carry on their family names and culture through the most serious commitment one can make which is to have their own children.

I kind of detest any restaurant or any other food seller that encourages gluttony. It's worse in the US where you have many all you can eat restaurants and when shopping at a Costco you are rewarded with a discount if you buy giant sizes of food. All this inspires hoarding and gluttony. It is a contributing factor in the rising obesity level in North America. This campaign at the Park Hyatt is mainly aimed at younger salarymen and women who need to feel that they are winning at something because their real working lives suck big time.....

How are the sales of rad counters doing by the way? The only way to deal with this situation is to arm yourself and your family. The government and TEPCO cannot be trusted to find out concretely what is happening underground. Would love to see what people would do if I were to take a small handheld rad counter into the local supermarket and go around meauring various vegetables and rice. Bet I would be asked to leave in short order by the management. Arm yourself, people!!! Don't be victims.......