Stewart comments

ATM-01 The cashier was a woman. The manager was a man. Naturally when the manager heard the ruckus, he came to talk to the old drunk and got punched. I would assume the woman stayed safe behind the counter / cash register.

Karyuudo- we will all be immune to it and it won’t matter.

And quite right to. Ban the protest during the memorial service. This isn't the USA, so there is no need to make a fetish of free speech.

"My airbnb was closed down. Totally safe and renovated. My life savings in lingo. To reopen I have to fill in a million forms and pay ¥200000. As I only work part time it going to be next year." No you don't - we did it and both of us work full time - 7 forms and we got it done before the deadline so we could continue to operate.

"All one really needs to prepare for university is to read and write essay!" And you think that Japanese high school kids can do that, do you?

When I was living in Birmingham (UK) in the 1990s, a station manager told me they averaged a bomb threat every 10 minutes - and they did not evacuate.

Agreed - if three young tourists can simply wander unchallenged into areas they should not have been in - the airport security needs investigating.

Yes - I believe STEP Eiken estimate they need to recruit about 22,000 examiners for this purpose - Aoyama, Sophia and Rikkyo Universities are starting this system soon - Google TEAP test with STEP Eiken

The biggest shake up will come from introducing a speaking test in the Centre Test for national university entry. Then every high school in Japan will have speaking courses - until then nothing will change and MEXT can go whistle in the wind.

Well, it is a start I guess. When I was a kid we had to pass a cycling proficiency test to be allowed to cycle to school - no test paper - no bike parking in the school. The short course and test was done by the police.

23 days police detention with hours of unbroken questioning without access to a lawyer is the root of this supported by courts that will swallow any confession without question. The compensation is not much but I believe that such awards in Japan do not tend to be generous - if so it is nothing peculiar to this case.

Abolish the fee and fully privatise the NHK - the current arrangement is an anachronism.

CH3CHO - how often do the courts order someone released? Experience tells me that the courts would grant (almost) every request made by the police.

There is also a monthly cap of ¥80,000 yen for medical treatment costs - once your 30% reaches that amount then you pay no more for that month.

And companies will fill out the false paper work "proving" that it has been taken.

Sophia University is a Christian / Jesuit liberal arts university with a good international reputation - I hope they act in relation to Prof. Watanabe.

At least it is being done as a law, in the UK the authorities can issue guidance requesting that the media not report on certain stories - that would be 'guidance' of course

Good for the wife.

It is in the UK too - called Hong Kong flu.

The promoter cancelled the tour - maybe M3M3M3 is right.

OK - I now have an answer to the question about the shortage I couldn't be bothered to ask.

Death rate per 100,000: USA 13.9, Australia 6.8, UK 4.8 & Japan 3.8 - Japan being the 4th safest country in the world.

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/road-traffic-accidents/by-country/

.....and it was a Friday night, too.

How can anyone be at all surprised that most Americans (and anyone else outside NE Asia) does not know about or care about the Senkaku Islands - there are so many much bigger and more bloody disputes going on around the world.

When I go back to the UK, I still meet people who ask questions like, 'What part of Hong Kong is Tokyo in?' 'You live in Japan - you must like Chinese food.' 'Korea is a country?' One survey of the most famous Japanese for Britons had 1) Yoko Ono 2) Godzilla 3) Bruce Lee.....says it all really.

Thank you, Cleo.

I lived in a dead end street in Kita-ku, Tokyo for 9 years, which was safe for kids to play out in as there was no through traffic. I could sit in my living room and listen to the kids play ball and sometimes chat to them when I went out - it was lovely. We when moved one boy made us a big card wishing us luck in the future. We will all be in a graveyard sometime but it doesn't have to be now.

Interesting - some of the younger Japanese teachers at my school got told off for coming into the teachers room wearing scarves and gloves last winter - it is 'rude' apparently.

I once helped arrest a chikan who was dressed in women's clothes to avoided being suspected of the touching. The high school girl who felt the hand blamed a university student near her but he saw the cross dressed chikan do it and a confrontation developed quickly. I only realised it was a man when I sat on her on the platform till the JR staff and police arrived. They then thought I was the victim till they spotted the crying high school girl.

Although, I have told the tale many times and got laughs - that university student could have had his life ruined.

In the shopping arcade in the area I used to live in, there were four regular homeless people. Two elderly men seemed to be quite at peace with their lot. However, the two women were mentally ill and quite often distressed. This article misses out the latter group, who fall through any safety net because of the poor mental health provision in Japan.

Good for national security too - no dependence on imported oil.