space_monkey comments

He is an Australian...amazing.

I buy them drinks from vending machines. Its better than giving money.

For anyone wanting to know how hardcore the situation is watch the Brazilian movie Elite Squad.

So so sad.

One word...insurance.

The teachers bully the students by constantly ordering what to do all day and punishing them through public ridicule instead of inspiring them to be independent free thinkers and self motivated conscientious adults. They allow the classes to laugh at students if they make mistakes rather than positively encourage each other to fail forward. I believe that this contributes a lot to the problem. Its Japanese culture.

Donald is Ronalds evil twin. Just like Ash in Evil dead. In fact Satoshi from Pokemon is called Ash in America!!!! coincidence? I think not.

I haven't had a single fight or bad word said with my GF in 5 years. Win before you begin.

Before the record players music was free for thousands of years. No one can stop me humming a song.

How did the North Korean female masseur spies in Ueno find out important secrets? They pumped people for information!!

A vampire or devil = License to thrill.

How people can read so much into a simple photo of some ordinary people going out on the town for a laugh is beyond me.

I am surprised no one has mentioned talking about dogs, dressing up dogs, eating at restaurants with dogs at the table, talking to dogs, walking dogs in baby prams, showing everyone photos of dogs, having pictures of dogs as their sns profile pic, paying lots of money on dog hair cuts, shopping for dogs and rejecting guys because they need to spend time with their sick dogs.....blah blah blah blah blah.

they tell me i am fat when i am not. they cancel dates with the excuse my grandmothers cat got a cold. (true story)

lets go guys...add some more to the list. lets get to 100!!!

Im going to the opening!!! yay.

facebook sucks.

I'm sorry Mr. Rogers, but you are completely wrong. It is a typical westerner's attitude to think that you can go in to a store and get what ever you want. Those BBQ packets cost extra money as well as not filling a drink with ice. Your attitude reminds me of people from 3rd world countries where the people will do everything they can to get the most out of businesses like asking for no ice to maximize the amount of drink, haggling the price down all the time, taking extra packets of ketchup to take home, grabbing a handful of candies on the way out of the restaurant... etc.,

Aska, I think you miss the point. These stories are just an example of the Japanese mindset and how frustrating it can be sometimes for people of a Western mindset when they are living in Japan. This discussion is about trying to understand both mindsets by discussing it. I met two Western people in the last week who were visiting Japan on holiday and both complained on their first day in Japan about inflexible situations similar to this that left them completely frustrated, frazzled and baffled. One was at a hotel and another was trying to rent phones. Both said they almost went berserk trying to deal with apparent Japanese inflexible service. I explained to them that the Japanese were not actually being inflexible but that simply they communicate and think differently to Western people. Being consistent is good service to Japanese. Predictability is gold in Japan. Following rules is polite and sacrosanct. I also explained that sometimes to Western people the Japanese people's way of delivering service can sometimes drive you insane but more often than not its impeccable.

I don't like it when someone is being inflexible in Japan and you say why? and they answer..."It's our rule" and then you ask why is it your rule and they just keep repeating over and over it's our rule...Like that's the reason: It's our rule because it's our rule.

DuraAce - I agree completely.

If I ever hear a J-chick talk about her dog again I will pour battery acid into my ears. I wait only five minutes when they are late now and just leave.

Put barbed wire around the rim so they cant climb on board. Problem solved.

correction: more often than not

In the short term Japanese service is by far best in the world. Once the honeymoon is over they can occasionally drive you nuts. More often than right though they get it right. Go anywhere else and you will be reminiscing about Japanese service. I think the most important thing is everything works. The human touch is often lacking though but that's how Japanese like it.

I think I would prefer to eat and regurgitate my own navel lint than listen to her.

I'll take Farside and Southpark any day. I'll leave peanuts for the elephants.

correction: quite possibly

The japanese courts will deside what is his fate/ the punisment according to the stated Law( japan ), and it will be irrelevant to victims British nationality and the astatues of her family. I wish .

I don't believe this is the case. It has been politicized and become an international media issue. It will matter that she is British. Japan is being judged by the whole of England now, and quote possibly Australia, Canada, and Americans.

Not at all. If you go out to pubs and clubs over a long period of time you see some crazy stuff. The point is, there are bad people in every country and alcohol can make them do anything. Everyone here generalizes, I think it is more constructive to talk about your own experiences rather than paint whole cultures with generalizations. Anyway, I saw all that in Osaka and Kobe.

Anyone who is really fat or loud!!

I won't generalize so I will only tell you all what I have seen.

Two British yob tourists in Kobe walk into a gaijin bar, hit on some guys hot girlfriend while she is buying a drink, follow her back to her boyfriend and punch him out. Watching a drunking Brit start throwing money at normal western woman in a Tokyo bar on the presumption they are prostitutes!! Sitting in a Hiroshima restaurant with two Japanese female friends and having two big American Marines, one black and one white, pull up chairs, sit down at my table, put their arms around my friends and say to me "What are you going to do about it?" Watching a drunken Aussie go into a McDonalds, order a big mac, open the box to inspect it, then proceed to throw it into the face of the person that served it!! having a elderly Chinese woman get on a train, walk straight to me, sit on my lap, then wedge themselves into the 10cm gap between me and the passenger sitting next to me!! I was speechless. Watching 10 Aussie Rugby Union boys go into a bar, take the fire extinguisher and spray down the entire bar and its occupants!! Watching New Zealander natives pound each other senseless. Having an unknown Irish person walk up to me in a bar in Osaka and say "I am going to reach down your throat and rip your balls out of your face" Watching a Brazilian guy walk up to my American friend take his beer out of his hand and drink the whole thing then pint to the "Brazilian Jujitsu team" on his shirt, and walk off!! Watching drunk Irish woman backpackers drink themselves, spineless, mental, legless, brainless and penniless...and still stand.

Honestly, who cares about young women making heaps of money doing absolutely nothing for it then whinging about the "dark side". Please!!

I once taught a Japanese guy that made drugs to keep you alive when you had lung cancer. He said his drugs had horrendous side effects...but you stayed a live a couple more months!!

About time they raised the prices.