Statistician comments

It is an eye-grabber, which is half the battle won in the news biz.

And it is inaccurate too, which is all the battle lost.

What's with the abandoning a corpse thing in Japanese news all the time?

Holding charge I think. They don't know cause of death.

soldave

Problem is, this type of thing is becoming so common that people are becoming desensitized to it and just treating it as normal life in Japan.

I'm afraid that isolated people caring for elderly parents who may be suffering from serious dementia is 'normal life' pretty well everywhere and people in that situation sometimes do just completely flip.

Don't judge others that have disintegrated under that pressure if you have never experienced it yourself.

Good grief! What a bunch of misinformation here ...

Actually a route always was planned and the land acquired but it was primarily 'seen off' by some serious lobbying by environmentalists and residents of Eastern Tokyo who did not want a new shinkansen line built through the area ...

That original route has now been developed by Keisei from Narita to the outskirts of Tokyo but then follows existing Keisei tracks into town. The gauge is 1435mm -the SAME as JR shinkansen AND existing Keisei tracks, not the narrower 1071mm gauage used on most of JR. 1471mm gives much more stability at speed than 1071mm

Hmm ... no more United Airlines for me.

A UK professor working on protection against airborne infection commented this week that a properly fitted medical grade surgical mask was effective against infection for 20-30 minutes.

He replaced his mask after every close contact with infection.

So if you are wearing the same mask around Tokyo all day you are simply looking silly.

Ironic when you think they arrested Paul McCartney at Narita for carrying marijuana. I don't think he was very impressed with the place.

It will go to Rio

Furthermore, although the holidaymakers work an equivalent of 41,000 full-time jobs, they actually create 49,000 full-time jobs for locals catering to those travelers—a net gain of 8,000 jobs.

Alleged multiplier effect. Very dicey economics.

I carry a small aerosol foam fire extinguisher in my rucksack to sort out this kind of pondlife but so far I've never had to use it; the sight of a 1.9 metre 110kg threatening gaijin bearing down on them brandishing a red cylinder seems to be sufficient encouragement to quit being a nuisance.

Maybe JR employees could be issued with small portable extinguishers like this as standard. There's one easy way to extinguish a fire.

A devout Catholic, Stucki says his mission is not a personal vendetta

I'm not a Christian myself but surely the New Testament is very clear on the importance of learning to forgive those who did you wrong. I think this is ultimately a vendetta whatever Mr. Sharp says.

Actually as a point of information many people who oppose the death penalty have had the experience of members of their family being killed by others. In my opinion it gives their point of view a particular dignity.

Obviously he's not a lame duck. He's a dead duck.

Well Happy Birthday Virgin but it might have something to do with the serious caning you are currently taking on prices from British Airways too eh?

I was recently offered 40,000 yen to the UK by BA including taxes. In my experience Branson is seldon the cheapest.

What did her husband do on Tibet when he was in power?

Interesting. People can get through a whole debate with no facts.

I repeat my question. If this a $75 billion package or a $275 billion package?

So how much is this exactly? Three European and one American news websites are quoting $275 billion, not $75 billion. Has 'Japan Today' made a serious typo here?

Not true. 'Doggy bags' are long a feature of several restaurants I use around here.

@realist

Sorry, but doesnt this guy, and all of you, not realise that a high speed line is already under construction, and will open in just over a year?

Well, I realise it mate, you will see I refer to the alignment being given to Keisei.

I think this guy's grouch is that it isn't fast enough. There is no real speed up within Tokyo itself on the Keisei route. And it doesn't run to Tokyo station.

Mmm ... a team led by a right wing xenophobe.

No thanks.

British Airways are now offering 4 man yen Narita-London return in March.

Sounds like a great year for Chicago. And Obama will be backing their bid.

Maybe Aso can lend Ishihara a hand. Ha!Ha!Ha!

and foreigners would be restricted from entry.

I wondered how long it would take the irrational xenophobic element to enter into the argument. As if returning Japanese aren't going to bring the virus with them undetected?

@likeitis

As much I despise that sort of behavior, I have to ask what choice he had really, aside from just not doing anything with her at all of course.

Well, from a career perspective, 'not doing it with her' might have been a much wiser choice.

Well, read this four times and I'm still quite unclear as to what the author is trying to say.

Obviously Obama is much more interested in developing the right relationship with PRC. Why wouldn't he be? With the current quality of political leadership here Japan isn't really even a serious player in terms of international diplomacy

Curiously, these types of bars seem unique to Tokyo and other large cities in Japan — an extensive trawl through entertainment listings for various metropolises around the world turns up just one other magic bar, in the U.S. city of Baltimore.

We have a Magic Bar in Accrington

Umm ... I think there was quite a debate around this point fought out with shields and batons in the fields around Sanrizuka 30-40 years ago. I also seem to remember that about two million people in Chiba-ken and eastern Tokyo-to pretty strongly disagreed with the idea. The earmarked route has eventually gone to Keisei thirty years later.

Airline bosses always assume the rest of the world exists only to boost their balance sheets. We have the same problem in London at the moment around extensions to Heathrow where I predict politicians and corporate lobbyists will receive the same bloody noses that their Japanese counterparts did.

Aso should have the courage and honesty to fully address this issue.

An NPA official says Masuda is an enormously proud man.

Enormously something anyway. 'Dumb' might be a better word.

It is always better to say 'sorry' and get it over with. It takes a real man to say 'sorry'

Could be because it is eight times bigger and a nuclear power.

Does it matter?