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Posted in: A dozen things to do deep in the mountains of Shikoku See in context

I just visited here a couple weeks ago. The autumn colors were fantastic! There are lots of mountains to climb which seem virtually empty compared to anything near Tokyo, and we also stayed overnight in a free mountain hut (though it was a little cold at night up on the summit in November).

It was also really helpful to have a car, as I found from others that using public transportation was a bit tricky (I picked up two sets of hitchhikers while there). Certainly good advice by the writer to give the area more than just a day.

If looking to visit, be sure to check the super helpful and informative "IyaTime" travel website for the Iya Valley and Oboke. Unlike any local travel site in English I've seen in Japan. It can be found at www.iyatime.com

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Head of 2020 Tokyo Olympics supports daylight time for Games See in context

Change the entirety of Japan to accomodate a single event in Tokyo?

Re-aligning the international stock market trading time... Yeah, I'm sure that will go over great.

And how about the summer matsuris across the country? The firework displays that were at 8 or 9pm will then be held at 10 or 11pm? Really? Because of one event. In Tokyo.

Over in Kyushu, Okinawa, and Hiroshima it will still be quite dark at 7am. The Para-Olympics run until the end of August, and at that time the sun currently comes up in west Japan at about 6am around then. So with a 2 hour shift it will then come up at 8am?

Did they ever consider, umm, simply adjusting the schedule for the events by 2 hours, instead of the schedule for 120 million people?

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Posted in: Some products likely to get exempted from U.S. tariffs, says Japan's trade minister See in context

Message to Japan:

If the US wants to impose trade tarrifs on specific products, then do the same with specific products (just like you already do with rice). Particularly with different states' signature products.

Example: bourbon (KY), brocolli (CA), soy beans (the entire Mid-West), etc

Very quickly, those states' senators and congressmen will listen.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Only 35.8% of toilets at high schools are Western-style: survey See in context

Around 50% of the toilets are pit toilets too.

@Disillusioned Do you teach in a mountain hut? I highly doubt you mean "pit toilets". If it flushes, its not a "pit toilet" (where things just go straight into a hole without flushing). Just because one squats, doesn't mean it goes into a pit.

But I'd be sure that if you mistakenly told your Australian visitors that your school incorporates "pit toilets" then yes, they'd be repulsed.

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Posted in: Tokyo gov't helping to attract foreign tourists to local areas See in context

On a special website, the metropolitan government introduces 

A this special website is called...???

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Posted in: Young people mount campaign to raise minimum wage, end poverty See in context

Too bad the article does not mention that only 6 prefectures are actually above the "average" of 832 per hour (but they are the most populated areas), while the other 41 prefecture are below this average, with nearly half in the 714 - 718 range. No wonder the countryside is emptying.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Posted in: Abe, Moon discuss N Korean missile launch See in context

 it flew for about 30 minutes and an altitude exceeding 2,000 kilometers. She said more analysis was needed.

Yeah, you ought to analyse that. The maximum altitude of a US or Russian ICBM is about 1,200km, with a range of 12 or 13,000km (as is, the other side of the planet).

Heck, with the exception of the guys who went to the moon, no human has ever come close to that altitude when in space. Even the int'l space station flies at an altitude of only 400km. So you mean NK just launched a missile which exceeded the orbit of the space station by a factor of 5??? And did so in 30 minutes, including re-entry??

Assuming re-entry took about half the travel time, then it traveled 2000km (with zero angle of trajectory, simply straight up and down) in just 15 minutes... which equates to 8000km per hour??? (and to allow a speed of zero at start, then to accelerate to 2000km in 15 minutes would need to breach well over 10,000km / hour...)

Yeah, sure, either NK is now achieving medium range earth orbit heights, or this is just another BS reason to change the pacifist constitution.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Posted in: Man arrested for stealing cash from company president's wallet during job interview See in context

Guy must have watched "Good Will Hunting" prior to the interview.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Battered yen faces new ball game, more losses after Trump win See in context

This is mainly due to dollar strength from weakness in the world's main "safe haven" of gold.

The gold price dropped due to India's cash ban. For now, the world's largest buyer or gold has no cash to buy it.

Gold therefore lost value. Dollar got stronger. Yen effected. Don't forget, India PM Modi was in Japan the moment the cash ban was announced there last week. Probably an India/Japan bond purchase or something was quietly agreed on to help unload some yen in order to get the inflation Abe desperately wants.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Posted in: Tens of thousands of South Koreans call for Park to quit See in context

Well, thats what you get when you elect a president who is the daughter of the authoritarian military dictator who took over the country by coup and ruled for nearly 20 years until assassination. Funny that the article here only mentions the "military dictator" part, and not the fact of how it was her dad.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Posted in: Dual citizenship is not permitted under Japanese law, making the country an international minority over the issue. What do you think are the benefits of allowing dual citizenship? See in context

Should someone live here say, 10-20-50 years and have no say or voice in what happens to their contribution to the country, less access to services, I certainly don't think so.

Just curious NZ2011, but what services are denied to permanent residents that they should be entitled to or are entitled to elsewhere?

As far as "voice", the option to hold public office/employment, enroll in armed forces, vote... one would say that a stated allegiance to a country would be a pre-requisite for these things, and maintaining a stated allegiance to a different country would obviously create a conflict of interest.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Abandoned mall has no employees, but still one operating store selling just one item See in context

Somehow I imagine that keeping the lights on, doors open, and products (even a single item) makes the business still officially functioning, even with no staff, which therefore creates a tax break of some sort and/or prevents the place from being condemned, abandonded, bankrupt, or something else the owner wants to avoid. Its probably all a tax write off for some other business, and I also bet that by having perishable fresh food it allows for some other loophole. A hundred yen for an onion is not outlandish to be suspect (its not 10,000) but its also too high to ever worry about running out of stock. Also, with a shelf life of a couple weeks, they need not be checked on. Pretty clever.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan an unhealthy longevity superpower See in context

Okinawa is sorely lacking in eating vegetables. At supermarkets there they cost way more than the mainland, mainly because most veggies are brought in from Kyushu. Add that to the proliferation of A&W joints, a love of Spam and awamori, car culture, and how the heat makes one want to be indoors... its understandable how they've dropped off in healthiness.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Posted in: Summertime herbs make versatile herbed yogurt cheese See in context

Just use some regular, cheap 100yen/container yogurt. No need for the fancy "Greek" stuff (if you can even find it here).

Put the regular yogurt into a single cup paper coffee filter and holder (holder is 100yen, pack of 100 filters also 100yen)

Cover with plastic wrap and let it drain in the fridge into a cup (like coffee). In a few hours it'll have the consistancy of "Greek" yogurt.

For "cheese", wait 24hrs+ and maybe mix in a teaspoon of either vinegar or lemon juice beforehand, as well as salt. If using dried herbs, mix those in beforehand too.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: One-third of men destined to be lifelong singles See in context

In Japan? Way more international marriages are between Japanese men and foreign women than the other way around.

Actually, I got my stats flip-flopped. You're right. (I just saw how in 2013 its about 4% of new marriages to foreign spouses, with foreign women 2 to 1 over foreign men).

But then, that means that with the marriage to the extra non-Japanese women compared to foreign men, the boy-to-girl ratio goes beyond the 1:1 baseline. So if its 33% of men not getting married, then it must be even higher for women. Ouch!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: One-third of men destined to be lifelong singles See in context

Japan has a boy to girl birth ratio of about 1:1. For every boy born there is a girl. So for every man in the population, there exists a woman. This is a fact.

Indeed, more women marry foreigners than men, but nowhere near 33% of women marry non-Japanese.. its actually about 7 or 8% of new marriages at best for women (and still about 5% for the guys).

So this article main statistic, that one-third of men are destined to be single, goes both ways. About 30% of women will never marry either.

I've met them. I know them as friends. I've seen them in middle age. Women are alone too.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Posted in: Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page testifies in 'Stairway to Heaven' trial See in context

As Steve Jobs once said Good artists copy, great artists steal.

@sighclops, Funny you should bring that up in such an article, as Steve jobs stole that line from Picasso, and Picasso was "inspired" for that quote from TS Eliot.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: While Sanders vows to keep fighting, Clinton wraps up nomination See in context

@Laguna

but the argument that his caucus victories are not accounted for in his total vote number does not hold water

Look at the RealClearPolitics link you gave. Notice Washington, Maine, Alaska, all won by wide margins for Sanders, all listing zero votes. Washington has 4 million registered voters, so assuming half are Dem or Dem-leaning Independents, and only half of them voted in the open caucus, that's a million votes that go uncounted in that "ahead by 3 million votes" by-line.

Look at Idaho, Nebraska, Hawaii -all have total votes of less than 35,000 and all have similar populations as NewMexico, but today's NM totals are going to be well more than 200,000 votes. Kansas has a 50% larger population than NM but only 39,000 total votes.

Minnesota, Colorado, and Wisconson all have close to the same populations (about 5.5million), but the caucus states (MN and CO) have vote totals of 190,00 and 130,000 but the primary state of Wisconson shows over a million.

Caucus states count irregularly. Some districts don't give total numbers. Some give only "state convention delegate" numbers (like N.Dakota today) and no popular vote numbers. So what the reporting of the known popular vote totals does is mis-represent reality and ignore the actual votes of millions of people.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: While Sanders vows to keep fighting, Clinton wraps up nomination See in context

You seriously think there were 3 million people voting in the caucus states?

Umm, there were several million people voting in caucus states, few of which were put in the vote tally.

From this article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-kall/debunking-hillarys-specio_b_9972312.html

"Take a close look at Washington state, which Bernie won with 72.7% of the votes. RealClearPolitics gives him zero votes, with its 7.2 million population.

The same goes for Maine, where Bernie had a 29% spread and Alaska where he won over 81% of the vote. Zero. Zilch. Nada. In Wyoming, Bernie is given 32 votes, not 32,000. He is given 32 votes."

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Posted in: While Sanders vows to keep fighting, Clinton wraps up nomination See in context

I didn't suggest that - are you reading someone else's posts? What I asked was if she is guilty of the sins of her husband

Nor did I suggest she's guilty of Bill's sins. If some might want to feel she is, that's up to them. But how can they when the story is suppressed? What I'm talking about is the willful failure of the pro-Hilary media to report a story many people would be interested in, a story that indeed may sway the vote, a story that would be another indirect bit of dirt on Hilary and another tarnished memory of Bill's presidency.

Is she guilty? Well, if we are to expect a similar presidency that was had with Bill, then are we to expect similar nepotism? Has she tried to distance herself from Bill's official record? Has she disavowed any of his presidential actions?

But sure, maybe she isn't directly "guilty", so then why fail to report Roger's DUI? Obviously its something she (and her establishment media supporters) want to hide.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Posted in: While Sanders vows to keep fighting, Clinton wraps up nomination See in context

@Strangerland

Ok, so Hillary is guilty of the sins of her husband?

You can not possibly suggest that Hilary is where she is today, on the verge of being the Democratic Prsidential Nominee, without her husband having been president (not just governor of Arkansas), without being Bill's first lady, without Bill's name (ever notice how for this election she has stopped using her maiden "Rodham" name?).

Is she a capable leader? Arguably yes, but she is absolutely supported by Bill's notoriety. She would be comparably unknown without him. She was not even in politics until after his presidency. Most people remember Bill as an overall good president, and that is unmeasurably helpful (Pat Nixon wouldn't have been anywhere near as successful, nor will Laura Bush). So if she's gonna keep that unbelievably useful name recognition (remember, she didn't divorce him when many expected she might), then she's gonna have to take the weight of the baggage that come with it.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Posted in: While Sanders vows to keep fighting, Clinton wraps up nomination See in context

@Strangerland

Maybe because... it's irrelevant? Or are we guilty for the sins of our brother-in-laws?

But zero reporting on the liberal side (also not ABC, not MSNBC), but it is reported elsewhere (like WaPo, Politico, NY Daily News)? Again, the guy is Bill's brother, not a long lost cousin (it was reported in the NY Times when he arrested for DUI the first time when there was no primary the next day).

Or maybe it will put into the spotlight what was a very obvious an act of Clinton nepotism: as president Bill Clinton pardoned the same brother for a drug dealing conviction, and did so quietly on his last day in office when the media was obviously more interested in the inauguration of Bush.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Posted in: While Sanders vows to keep fighting, Clinton wraps up nomination See in context

@randomnator

Bernie is 3 million popular votes behind Hillary.

This widely promoted number only includes primary voting states, and does not include most caucus states, nearly all of which Sanders won, usually by a wide margin (like Washington). Caucus states do not usually report the popular vote numbers, or at least haven't done so yet.

Funny how the media (and now online commentors) ignores this fact and just keeps repeating, repeating, repeating this wildly inaccurate number. Also funny is how most major liberal news sites (like the New York Times and Huffington Post) utterly failed to report how Bill Clinton's brother (the one Bill pardoned for drug crimes on his last day in office) was again arrested yesterday for DUI in California. One could say its irrelevant, but the guy is a minor celeb and presidential family, yet the day before the final primary its completely ignored.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Posted in: Sanders focuses on California; Clinton has sufficient backing See in context

@ Laguna

I love Sanders, but Clinton has already won more than 3,000,000 more popular votes

This widely touted statistic is factly inaccurate. The number represents primary results, but it does not include most caucus states, almost all of which Sanders won, and usually by a wide margin (like Washington). Caucus states report their numbers differently and/or do not give the popular vote tally.

Interesting that nearly everyone fails to report this when stating that 3 million number. Gives me great trust in journalism!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Abe pushes equal pay for temp workers to lift economy See in context

An easy reform. Cut out the structural (and parasitic) middleman

@SenseNotSoCommon sounds easy and intuitive for you and me, but you must have missed the part where I mentioned how the current proliferation of temp agencies is in fact due to the promotion of them by the LDP (which is Abe's party). What he's saying is lip service, and little or no reform will probably occur.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Posted in: Abe pushes equal pay for temp workers to lift economy See in context

Whats unmentioned is how temp agencies, which place the temp workers and maintain them throughout the employment term, will often take 15 to 50% of the worker's take home pay, sometimes with a placement fee on top of that. So if someone gets 200,000 a month as a temp, in reality the employer pays about 230 to 300,000yen via the temp agency. So for temps to make equal pay, it means either employers must pay more than a regular worker (to include the agency fee), or the agencies must reduce or eliminate their fees. But as temp workers have increased so much recently (of note, thats due to a LDP initiative a few years back promoting a privatized labour market) it means the temp agencies have increased their power, and will certainly negate any attempt to reduce their profits.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

Posted in: Sanders focuses on California; Clinton has sufficient backing See in context

Clinton's brother-in-law got a DUI in Redondo Beach, CA recently. Driving erratically on PCH and refusing a mandatory breathalyzer from the police.

He shouldn't worry. If Hilary wins the presidency he can expect himself to be pardoned, just the same way Bill pardoned him on his last day in office for dealing cocaine back in the 80s.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Posted in: French prosecutors probe $2 million tied to 2020 Tokyo Games See in context

Corruption, bribery, money laundering.... sounds like something a Diack would do.

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Posted in: Pizza Hut Japan asks customers: 'Don’t you hungry?' See in context

No, it was the branch dedicated to small vehicles, not the overall brand- "The word "Toyopet" was a nickname given to the Toyota SA due to its small size....

Arrrgh! Sounded so fitting. Damn you Top Gear!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Pizza Hut Japan asks customers: 'Don’t you hungry?' See in context

Urban myth? The Toyopet brand has been around since the 50s.

Not sure if I got the decade right, but I remember hearing this once on BBC's Top Gear.

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