Tahoochi comments

Clipping their nails at their desk... it's disgusting IMO because you know not all of the clippings are ending up in the trash bin.

I think Trumps cut and dry style will keep Japan somewhat honest...

With that said, yes, Trump is a businessman, but the golden rule of business is that you never offer a deal unless it's "win-win". No one happily accepts any deal if it only benefits one side (the US). Trump knows this, so he will only offer one-sided deals that he knows won't bite him back in the future. Otherwise, I don't think Trump will ruffle too many feathers.

Washlets are the greatest inventions ever.

samwattersNOV. 15, 2016 - 02:29PM JST

Now if the boss was a bully or not we may never definitively know and it really doesn't matter.

It does matter because my whole point was that your very first comment clearly implied that Saito's boss was a bully despite the fact that we don't know.

samwattersNOV. 15, 2016 - 01:00PM JST

You are correct; we don't know exactly what happened except that an physical action on the part of the boss preceeded an attack by Saito.

And you are correct, with the exception that the physical action (which btw is only based on the killer's statement) does not necessarily mean that the boss was a bully, which is what you're implying. That's my point.

1.) being a boss in Japan no longer means roughing up your employees with the expectation that the employees will take it and

I know I'm splitting hairs, but I still don't get why you keep referring to bosses "roughing up" their subordinates. Do most bosses you know physically abuse their employees?

samwattersNOV. 15, 2016 - 09:53AM JST

You got my quote only half right. I wrote, the majority of bosses THAT I KNOW. There is a difference.

My bad. I understand that people form their own stereotypes based a lot on personal experiences. My personal experience in my many years in Japan and meeting thousands of people is that the majority of bosses are not the bully-type like you say.

Did the boss's actions contribute to the event that got him. I think you can build a pretty good case that it did.

The article states:

Saito said he lost his temper after his boss grabbed him during their argument because he returned to the guest house drunk.

Does that mean he grabbed Saito by the front of his shirt? Did he grab his arm as Saito turned to walk away from him? Did he grab Saito's shoulders with both hands as if to talk intently? Did he grab him by his hair? Was this the FIRST time he ever touched Saito? The article doesn't say, and my point is that you are stereotyping Saito's boss as a "Bully" from this one phrase in the article which could mean anything.

Saito's boss could have been a mild-mannered, professional, and respected boss, and not like the MAJORITY of bully-type bosses that you know, but we won't know from the statement taken from the guy that killed him, will we?

dogzNOV. 15, 2016 - 07:23AM JST

These company trips seem more trouble than they are worth in Japan. If they aren't murdering their bosses, the salarymen are ordering hookers from delivery services.

Company trip????? Maybe these guys were on a business trip. Maybe they were entertaining customers. The article states that the guesthouse is a lodging facility for business travelers and tourists. Besides, if you can't see the benefits of a "these company trips", then you're more than welcome to not participate.

samwattersNOV. 15, 2016 - 08:19AM JST

Too bad for the boss but the majority of bosses I know in Japan are bullies and think they can rough people up...

Leaving the fact that you said "majority of bosses" aside, the article states that Saito came back to the guesthouse drunk some time around 2:30 AM. What if they were on a business trip and had an important job in the morning? What if they were entertaining an important customer and he took off, not coming back until 2:30 AM? What if Saito's boss had been worried sick about him and got a little emotional by grabbing him? Where is the evidence that Saito's boss was a chronic "bully"? If anything, I'd say he cared very much for Saito's well-being...

Now I'm just being the devil's advocate here, but there is not enough evidence in this simple article to stereotype Saito's boss as an ignorant boss on a power-trip.

Udondashi & Disillusioned: This is not about cover-ups or scandals. This is about a defect/recall, and Toyota compensating their customers directly for their costs and trouble. Cases like this are not unique to Japanese companies only. Countless American companies have settled class action lawsuits in the past and always will. That's America.

"Love trumps hate" is definitely one of those phrases which cannot be translated without a long explanation of its meaning.

With that said, yes, this is a pretty crappy translation job. It's like the translator was thinking "What a pain in the @ss to translate into a few words... oh well, no one in Japan is going to know it's not perfect anyway, so here it goes..."

It's a tough job, but "I hate trump" is a little too rough I must say.

naturalclown123NOV. 09, 2016 - 01:55PM JST

Well, what most people seem to forget is that the country is very much a majority white country and the white voters have seemed to come out in droves like hispanic voters or black voters did for Obama in 2008.

Well, I hope the majority white voters aren't forgetting that their ancestors were also immigrants. And I just hope that they're not making this a racial issue.

The problem is, Obama had a strong male vote where men overall have been voting for Trump this time.

Again, therein lies the problem: it shouldn't be about male or female... it should be about who is the best candidate... right?

Here's a thought that will probably get me many thumb downs: Since the US is the world's largest economy, each G8 nation should have a share of electoral votes in future presidential elections!

Everybody (in the world) strap on your seat belts, President Trump's gonna take us on one helluva ride...

Smith: The dollar is also getting weaker already; it's at JPY104.6 per USD already.

How can the U.S. unify after such a vitriolic campaign?

If Trump wins, I think the US (and the world) will get a watered down version of Trump the candidate. There's no way he can actually do the things he says he wants to do when he's President.

If Hillary wins, nothing will change.

Either way, they will unify in some sort of compromised change with Trump, or sit around and change nothing with Hillary.

44 million Corollas?!?! Forty-four million Corollas??!!??!!

Smith: I agree with most of your comment, but you said the police chief was let go, then you said he got a 10% deduction... which was it?

Anyway, I imagine this guy's excuse was that he was drunk, or he was under a lot of pressure or some poor excuse... whatever.... another day in Japan!

Strangerland: I share your sentiment, but the fact that Trump has made it this far says a lot about how the general American population thinks.... need I say more?

As njca4 mentioned above, the average Japanese person's carbon footprint is half that of Americans. They must be doing something right...

StrychnineOCT. 25, 2016 - 10:33AM JST

I hope this works! I eagerly await the day when we slow down or stop burning oil for fuel.

....and then burn a different fuel. I used to think fuel cell/hydrogen was the bomb (no pun intended) until I read about how much energy it takes to produce and store it. Let's just say it has its critics.

That is just sick. I'm not religious, but I hope there is a hell for these 4 individuals.

Aly RustomOCT. 24, 2016 - 08:35AM JST

What surprises me is why the rest of the world hasn't imposed some kind of sanctions on these 3 nations. What was a real shocker to me was that the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand didn't mention this issue at all when it came to the TPP negociations. I was almost willing to bet that they would have.

My guess is that none of these countries believe it's a priority. "Everybody" says whales should be protected, but when compared to trade talks or sanctions, none of the leaders of these countries want to jeopardize their economic relationship with Japan. For the sake of public outcry and maintaining easy domestic votes, "Oh yes, it's very important". But for trade and economy, "Meh, not that important".

Smith: What information in this article made you believe that seatbelts would have saved any lives?

"The speed of bus was so significant that the trailer itself entered about 15 feet into the bus," Abele told reporters.

The US is usually pretty good when it comes to traffic safety rules/laws. I'm guessing that there is some kind of reason for them not to have mandatory seatbelts in buses.

Dan LewisOCT. 24, 2016 - 08:56AM JST

Agreed that Apple products are expensive, but cheap (quality-wise) products posing as Apple products makes Apple liable without any income. Is that fair? Apple isn't going after cables that support their products in general - only those that claim to be made by Apple.

I know everybody has their stories, but here's mine: I used to have a cheap Wal-Mart charger for my iPhone (because my original one no longer worked). After a certain ios update, my Wal-Mart cable no longer worked (my iPhone told me the walmart cable was not an "authorized" accessory), forcing me to buy another expensive Apple charger which is probably made at roughly the same cost as the cheap Wal-Mart one... how's that for fair?

Amazing how money just makes people want more. You'd think that these people are rich enough that they could live in luxury for the rest of their lives without doing anything illegal.

Agree with other posters above; kid gets bullied, kid stands up for himself, kid turns into the bad guy. Unfortunate that it could have been prevented if the original problem (bullies) were properly dealt with.

idir13013OCT. 19, 2016 - 04:42PM JST

I really fail to see how reporting that the woman was unemployed is relevant to what she did. Is that to suggest that all unemployed people are potentially insane? If that woman had a job, would the reporter have written "an employed person..." instead?

I don't know the exact reason, but would you rather they said: "A person stabbed another person, and then another person today..."

Maybe the media believes that the more details you give to the public, the more accurate the report seems to be... you know, 5W 1H. Many times the Japanese media will say "a company employee" if the person works for a private company, and often they will say "a policeman", or "a teacher" if the person works for a public service.

RIP Arnie. Thanks for everything.

@Goodlucktoyou:

I'm not sure how much driving speed affects traffic jams compared to say construction, accidents, or just sheer volume of cars (ie. rush hour times), but in one hand you've got driving at the speed limit with stress, and in the other hand you've got drastically reducing accidents and saving lives ... I'll take the latter.

Download an upgrade to your safety system to prevent dying in a crash? Sounds kinda amateur to me.

"Perfect safety is really an impossible goal," Musk said in discussing the update, which was developed over the past three to four months.

I don't know... I think I'd rather die at the hands of my own driving than rely on a machine for now, or at least until they get closer to achieving "Perfect safety".

DisillusionedSEP. 12, 2016 - 08:36AM JST

The people hospitalized were most likely stung several times.

Or they were allergic...