Thomas Weisbach comments

@sensei258 By the time a kid is 4 years old, they can open most standard locks you'd find in a Japanese apartment. Given that most apartments don't let you make modifications, the standard lock is all you get.

This sort of thing should be a warning to get building owners to put real child-safe doors on the balcony.

It's pretty amazing that she's back skating two months after giving birth.

@the_sheriff yes, I think we can attribute the decline in suicides to AKB.

They've been doing this for a while, haven't they? One of the NHK men came to my friend's apartment and when my friend said he didn't have a TV, the NHK man said my friend should still pay because he had a keitai (probably on the assumption that the keitai was one that could be used to watch broadcasts).

Historian Yoshiaki Yoshimi uncovered evidence that the government and military sanctioned and ran the "comfort stations": http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/world/asia/31yoshimi.html?_r=0&src=tp&pagewanted=all

@jonobugs newly available in Japan.

@Probie Wikitravel is a owned by a for profit company which was running advertising on the site. Many of the admins rebelled from the changes and lack of support of Wikitravel and started Wikivoyage. Some notes about the differences here: http://gyrovague.com/2013/01/14/free-travel-guide-wikivoyage-comes-out-of-beta-and-is-already-kicking-ass/

@JapanGal 10 men entered the club, 15 are wanted for the murder. I guess the 5 that didn't enter the club assisted or where otherwise involved.

Of course, determined people will find a way, but adding gates would stop people who commit suicide on impulse.

The area of Osaka is pronounced "Nipponbashi", not "Nihonbashi". Nihonbashi is the place in Tokyo. They are written with the same kanji though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipponbashi (This error is from the original article.)

Apparently the positive reviews are outnumbering the negative ones: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/09/boycott-against-obamas-bear-hugging-buddy-failing-miserably/56713/

Judging from Japan Today discussion board comments, Japan Today readers hate everything.