souka comments

And where is Japan in all these efforts. Don't they feel the need to give a hand to this noble and lone expedition? There is no other place where help could come than from Japan. Hopefully they will not rebuke and criticise again whatever this honorable man uncover along the tracks as time passes, as they already done to other causes for WWII.

yep, while the story of the nuclear has been supported by every country, i think it will be great if japan can give at least some support (from the leadership) to the voices of others, like comfort women, etc. they need it.

those are the things that are expected during the war. how about telling the stories of how japan operate in the pacific, or in china or korea. but, i think that is impossible given the current round of denials from the helm.

@suzuran

sometimes you need to play your opinions on a global theatre. WWII is a global war, total war - one that transcends boundaries, that defies the soverignty of nations, that equalize them on the fate of total destruction.

with that in mind, issues related with WWII are not Japan's business alone, it is everybody's business. while everyone abhor the nuclear and respect/remember the victims of it, does that same reverence given to those who perished under the imperial conquest? aren't they our fellow humans?

i think japan need leaders who can distinguish between issues that are domestic and issues that transcends the domestic conscience. instilling denial is not something needed in 2015.

in all wars, there is nothing expected but the worst. the nuclear was also part of it, just like japan's best artilleries, and machine guns, etc, that exterminated millions combatants and noncombatants alike across asia-pacific.

maybe one missing word in japan's dictionary when it comes to this topic is "humble". what came to the germans soon after the war is they humbled themselves to the most manner possible, admitting that they were losers, raising the voice of those who suffered under the third reich, rather than theirs.

while the message of not repeating the nuclear is vital, that does not mean that japan's story should override all other stories. but, japan mostly still thinks that somehow they are always at the top, the best in everything, others the worst - well, i think sometimes you need to be humble, one part of human nature, maybe a more noble one.

it is a sad moment in history, one article from other sources said the japanese invasion of asia was justified for they liberated asia from western imperialism - which is a total nonsense.

japan only remember her own people died from the war, but never try an attempt to remember the tragedies they caused in beginning the war, let alone in slaughtering millions of innocent civilians, under the IJA barbaric objectives.

japan still misses one piece of the story, perhaps a more noble one. and an incomplete story is a boring one to follow.

It is a difficult question, a particular conundrum to Japan as it still tries to dispute war facts. Germany had already settled with everything, falling down on its own knees, and she was pulled up by her neighbors, embraced, welcomed in a brotherly way.

Japan is still hang up high in pride and dignity, which is a good thing as they did suffer the result of the nukes. But, it is ironic that they never seem to grasp the suffering of others beyond their shores. That too is also part of the story.

no wonder these stories are coming up because of the anniversary. and the most part looks like the victim-telling story. thats not bad as this is japan.

if they don't want to get out of their comfort zone and balance the story-telling of the war, by also including the aggressor part of it, then expect a viscious cycle of political football (finger-pointing) with your neighbors.

as one world stateman said - 'war is an expression of human folly. war itself is not glorious, and we should never trumpet it as such'.

the glorification of war is not something of value to younger populations. it can only induce the fallibility of human beings.

congratulations ladies!! gambaai

in addition, children are mean't to go to school, not for the sex industry, or for sexually gratifying the adults..the adults are mean't for their own counterpart, and that is the adult, not children.

of course we are all human beings, not angels or super-humanbeings, we can commit crimes (even against children) or move aside from the normal/standard behavior. and those pervert conducts need to be recognized and addressed.. featuring sexual images of minors is one of such that need to be addressed, not encouraged..and it is a shame to an art profession if manga and anime encourage such insidious ways of thinking,,maybe they should not be called arts, but maybe sex industries..because they encourage such.

japan has alot to offer, think about karate, judo, sumo, aikido, samurai, and the list goes on -- the things that can educate people more about what this society ready to offer, and perhaps on how to defend themselves!

well, it is not art, it is just obscenity, it only cultivate the idea that somehow we are not humans, we are animals..of course, there is a difference between those two.

and as humans, we know what is right and wrong,,,art itself is also a source of education, not a place to cultivate pervert behavior. creators of manga and anime need to rethink their approach, to move away from portraying sexual images of minors, and putting more emphasis on the stories that can educate the populace, maybe kids stories, Snoopy Doo, Superman, Hercules, Moses, etc

the lack of creativity among manga creators, is part of the reason that they just take the easy road, portraying images of children, so as to attract money, not to educate the audience. or maybe it also shows that they do also have some sort of odd sexual imaginations.

an interesting news article. the only potent concern i think is corporate interest..while tpp might be able to open for public comments later-on, corporate secrecy and manipulation if the deal happen to succeed can be just as sinister afterward.

it will be good if there is a clear and strong safeguard for ordinary citizens in place, and that the ownership should not be in the hands of foreign forces, but domestic ones..if not, tpp need to vanish.

yep, the apologies issue is hopeless with this administration.

it has been mentioned earlier as well that maybe the pressure should not be that japan should be genuine about its apologies, but that it should be telling the truth about what really happens.

it is sad that they say, "the war should not be repeated again" but they (maybe the current generation) don't know what really happened back then because they just don't want to openly discuss about it.

More channels to burn (dirty) fossil fuels. More to companies, less for local communities.

There is an issue of trust, Is Japan can be trusted? There is a big chance of No, we can only hope that everything's fine before 2020.

Well, as long as you wear white and with a tie, that should be fine. These women are just too much, they need to be fired if they cannot complete their quotas just because of a ridiculous excuse.

I think there is still a kind of trauma for what was happened seven decades back, so japan seems to be more careful now with any actions that might lead to unncessary military encounters, like perhaps the construction of infrastructure on senkaku.

Sometimes things are just as easy for spectators, but in reality, those who actually play the game sometimes needs to buy them time to ponder and calculate the impacts, etc.

If the govn't gave an apology and stamped it to law, all these apologies from companies will not be very interesting to read.

Why the need for electric shock? Isn't the wall itself enough to keep away deers?

i think we need not judge. she will pay for her own act, she already done the things that will stay with her forever. she deserve some care, although she may not sensibly live life again outside confinement.

onigiri - it does save the lives of busy people commuting and running around between tight schedules.

cool japan is only a word with no real substance. there are budget and things behind but not any of them can even be described as cool.

i even have a special feeling of sympathy for the girls in AKB48, yes they work hard, and maybe they deserve respect. but, looking at how creative they are in their performance, comparing it with other known video music from outside, it does not get even close, they look more like children dancing around, really.

also, i have this feeling that they are somewhat being exploited by the operating industry, from whatever talent they really have and can project it to the world "on their own" creation and effort. not from the industry's requirements or others' influence. i think everybody can do what AKB is doing, it just seems nothing new, except that they do it in a luxurious way, with helicopters flying around, but it just boring.

of course they deserve respect, but they don't deserve to be exploited, that is not cool at all, they deserve to grow on their own individual talent, not to be distracted from any outside power or management. they deserve to conduct their own, from their own originality. and they will have alot more to offer, than being grouped and directed and perhaps harrassed (who knows).

And it may very well go to doing so, for the child of the person who sold them.

while i agree, i also have a little doubt of that. sometimes farmers can be more rich than executives, except for how we look at them. i think they already happy for their produce and perhaps their earnings, except for some tycoons who do not know how to use the resources they have, or PR offices extending their public image.

that sum can help send a kid or two to school, or help one to complete a university degree, or to buy thousands of books and make them free for poor kids. being rich means more responsibility, to provide more ladders for more to climb. this is another example of irresponsible expenditure or PR for that matter.

there might a good reason to have some ammendments to article 9, but with reasons given by Abe and some of his supporters here, its just cause mind boggling. giving an example of history/grandfather to justify his actions is just out of topic.

maybe he's bragging about his family, who cares. family affairs has nothing to do with article 9, the country and the lives of those who will serve in those wars should be first and foremost, not only when serving, but afterwards.

the word "shine" is not the right one to use, it's a little discriminatory against women. but maybe it is inherent term in a place where "cute" "kawaii" things are quite expected and/or worshiped.

of course, women are part of the economy, they consist maybe more than half the population. and that half of the population need to work to contribute, to drive the economy forward. women are intelligent and capable to get things done, just like men, they don't require themselves to "shine", do they?

LDP have many mistaken/wrong priorities. A slight change in priority at least can help change the current course - the whaling industry comes to mind, people in Fukushima is also another. National progress will be problematic if one Prefecture is lagging behind.

@Tina, we are all living in Japan, some for more than ten or twenty years or so. The topic is not about other countries, its about Japan. i think people don't want to change Japan, they just want the best for this country.

from experience, i think one thing that many japanese universities don't understand is the meaning of "diversity". many professors i had came across with don't really understand that term in reality.

the use of new technologies in classrooms is also very lacking in many places/universities, because many lecturers themselves still think that the old way of doing things - where they themselves dominate every discussion with no powerpoints - is very good and somehow should not change.

many (university) courses are just about discussions, no field trips, no group/team work, no use of other mediums like movies, etc -- very repetitive and uneducational in this new era. the ranking therefore rings no surprise.