Stephen Knight comments

They've done, and continue to do, some great documentary programming, including the "Professional" series; the "Cosmic Front" series on space and astronomy-related issues; the "Shin Nihon Fudoki" series (in reruns on BS-1), which takes a really people-oriented, in-depth view of Japanese rural and cultural life; and many one-off documentaries on world culture, history, and modern society. (They've run a strong--and, indeed, thought-provoking--series on political and social issues facing China, among others.) They've also provided surprisingly even-handed coverage of the aftermath and long-term impact of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Some of their documentaries covering Japanese Buddhist art and architecture have been incredible.

That said, I do wish they'd stop taking the quiz show/"expert" panel route with some of their documentaries--it cheapens the material and actually makes for less interesting viewing. And some of their attempts to be hip and current are just, well, clunky and sad.

What is kept secret is secret. Why it’s kept secret is also secret. It can also remain a secret and be thrown away.

This is perhaps one of the greatest problems with this bill. The value of preserving government records lies not only in documenting history, but in having a record of who did, said, ordered what. Without that record, there is no accountability.

Under the similar 2001 revision to the Defense Secrets law, records are classified as secret for a specific period of time, after which the period is either extended--if the matter remains sensitive--or the records are supposed to be released and, theoretically, available for public access. In the ten years or so since that revision went into effect, only ONE out of approximately 50,000 such records was preserved past its specified period of confidentiality. The rest were destroyed.

I like the appropriately slangy translations in this piece. Effective and evocative!

The very essence of democracy.

What Japan's missing is the other key ingredient, an educated populace; educated in the sense of having access to actionable information.

This new law aims to remove even more of that scantly available information from public view. I don't think we're that far away from a curtailing of rights to assembly in this country...

That's odd--usually they wait until an actual scandal erupts before they run for the sick ward... anticipating a problem, perhaps??

Adelstein, a former reporter at Japan’s top-selling Yomiuri daily, likens the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s biggest organized crime group, to “Goldman Sachs with guns”.

Boy, that doesn't say much for Goldman Sachs, does it?

I'm at a loss...

Another point of information for those criticizing the (current) boyfriend for not stopping the attack--TV news reports pointed out that they were traveling by car and had stopped near the station to purchase some lottery tickets at a booth nearby. The woman got out to buy the tickets, while the (current) boyfriend stayed in the car with the daughter. So there was not a lot he could've done given the swiftness of the attack... I think it's amazing that the cops picked up on information that the killer had family ties to Hachijo-jima, learned he was on the last ferry to leave Tokyo the evening before, and were there to round him up when it arrived early the next morning, having flown in first by helicopter.

Another sad story, and more focus needs to be put on teaching young women their legal rights with respect to abusive/ threatening partners--despite all these incidents, the ability of the law (either the police or the courts) to take real action is still dependent on the victim's willingness file charges, go to court for a restraining order, etc. I don't know what can be done to prevent these u balanced young men from becoming violent stalkers...

Can the architect ,Zaha Hadid, refuse to allow changes to his design.

That's herdesign...

It's all perfectly plausible. Most of the people involved (except the father and son, perhaps) have likely never seen or touched a real gun and were probably reasonable in assuming this gun wasn't real--how could it be, brought to school by a child in a country without legal access to handguns? Their assumptions are simply not the same as that of, say, the average American.

That said, they probably should have checked, if for nothing else than safety's sake.

Let's not hear any more whining from the American car companies about poor sales in Japan, if they're not even going to bother to show up!

This was really unnecessary... :-/

Rinsch said he was confident the film, with its timeless themes, would appeal to overseas audiences.

Ah yes, timeless themes... a band of "samurai" led by Keanu Reeves, battling CG monsters... a hot mess indeed!

"Doctor Sleep" was a good read. As he's gotten older, Mr. King's writing has evolved in many ways, including more complex characterization and a greater willingness to not rely strictly on "horror" effects for the psychological and story-telling jolts he still delivers so reliably. I found "Under the Dome" immensely readable for that reason, and "Doctor Sleep" continues the trend.

"Vitamin U is not actually a vitamin, but is instead a term used to refer to a substance called S-Methylmethionine. It's found in several different types of food and is used as a naturopathic supplement to treat a variety of health problems. "

They don't ship to Japan, either...

Where do you get them in Japan?<

You can't, at least not that I know of. They do sell e-cigs here, but due to stricter drug laws they contain no nicotine; many of them are manufactured in China, and the substance that provides the 'vapor' effect can be of questionable composition.

Since e-cigs are not classified as cigarettes, however, there is no law against purchasing them abroad and bringing them into the country for personal consumption--as long as you don't try selling them to others.

I'm trying out NJOY -- another brand that looks like a cigarette, is almost as light as one, and is completely self-contained and disposable, with about two packs worth of nicotine in each one. I've cut my regular cigarette consumption in half so far, using the NJOY for situations where I can't smoke, and am hoping to completely quit tobacco soon. The cost (I have to buy them in the U.S. and bring them home) runs about the same as for two packs of regular cigarettes in Japan--between $6-$8 per e-cig--but is less than half that of regular cigarettes in most of the U.S. I tried Japanese e-cigs for a while, but they don't contain any nicotine (they would be classified as regulated substances if they did, and too cost-prohibitive to license and market), and were not helpful in combating the craving for a cigarette.

Not much of an advertorial if it makes no mention of the manufacturer or where/how to purchase one.

Gee, I wonder how Lee Hongki feels about being named a "Nail Queen."

I think it's more an insult to the consumer than anything else--essentially, these businesses are saying that typical Japanese consumers, for all their vaunted choosiness and insistence on quality, really can't tell the difference between high-grade ingredients and run-of-the-mill (or in some cases, doctored) foods. After all, very few of these cases are coming to light as a result of disgruntled patrons complaining their "wagyuu" isn't up to snuff.

Still, these cases should be prosecuted as out-and-out fraud.

However, I really do not understand about Japanese Company NISSIN changing its official language to English from Japanese to just say “Hello and How are you”. I do not know whether NISSIN has selected wrong person as CEO and not but I must confess it’s very strange.

Hello?? It's JUST A COMMERCIAL. And a pretty funny one, at that.

Great, another entertainment venue to be monopolized by the AKB/Jonny's/Yoshimoto Kogyo industrial brainwashing complex...

Gaijin = no credit, yaks are obviously no risk whatsoever.

I have credit cards from four major Japanese companies/banks, and have for years. "Gaijin" has little to do with it.

There are several causes to this loan to yakuza problem and the financial company is not the only one to blame.

This is true, but much of the problem comes from the history behind the current ownership of these consumer credit companies. Major banking groups who snapped them up over the years knew perfectly well they were acquiring toxic assets at rock-bottom prices--the profitability of most of these lenders was decimated by new interest-rate regulation a few years ago--but once they acquired them, they did little more than slap on a veneer of respectability without really vetting or cleaning up the questionable loans already on the lenders' books. It was a battle to see who could acquire the largest customer base for the smallest outlay, and now they're paying for their greed.

Yacchimatta in Yachimata... :-(

I think in many cases the gangsters played the system by getting individual members to take out relatively low-value loans (personal credit lines, car loans, etc.) as ordinary "consumers" without revealing the yakuza ties that came out in later, more in-depth credit investigations. Compared to the U.S., for example (which has kind of gone to the opposite extreme), the credit tracking and reporting system in Japan is still relatively disorganized; gangsters took advantage of that, but the banks are also made vulnerable by their own willingness to provide funds without adequate background checks.

Ironic, considering how tough they can be about loans to legitimate applicants.

Maybe they should re-name the chain "Hanshin Hangi" ... lol

I generally agree with the 'more spiritual than religious' viewpoint, but perhaps it requires some time out of the big city to see this in its full form. In the countryside, established families and communities may have, in the course of a year, literally dozens of ceremonies, festivals, and rituals to be observed and handed down, some more agrarian-based Shinto traditions, others Buddhist. They all acknowledge--and some honor--the presence of a god, gods, or some other 'higher power' (the souls of dead relatives, for example), in terms that attest to the belief that these are real influences on daily life. I think this goes well beyond the condescending "superstitious."

As for whether or not Japan's religions are "organized," anyone who has seen the rituals and observances that take place at any major Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine would likely find it hard to argue that these are 'casual' faiths. The high Buddhist ceremonies sometimes outdo the Catholics in their splendor, and it certainly takes a highly organized religion to muster the lay parishoners, resources, and catechism that has kept these rituals alive for so many centuries. Obviously one could argue that these things are no longer relevant as young people drift away from the observances of their home towns and elders, but that's true of many other faiths worldwide.

Just there in September, didn't have much time to see the sites and the city itself is unremarkable, but well worth seeking out the sake breweries, the castle tour, and some of the other features mentioned in the article. Great ramen, too. Another nice side-trip from Aizu, if you have a car, is to drive into the mountains to visit Ouchijuku, an Edo-era post town that has, for the most part, been well-preserved (though many of the buildings no longer have traditional thatching, due to difficulties with lack of materials, a shortage of expert thatchers, and cost). It's about a one-hour drive from Aizu proper.

Wow, Kamasami Kong, I remember listening to him on the radio growing up in Hawaii... now he's doing restaurant openings in Tokyo???

Too bad he didn't have more to say about the food, which, if it's any good, is the only thing I'd go all the way to Harajuku for.