tokyo_eiyuu comments

Hey thats the 7 eleven right in front of hiroshima station, i go there every morning for my canned coffee! Thought this was a tokyo article!

Looks like hanabi!

essentially the same effect too given they have never been tested in combat!

uh this article is wrong. just saw on the tv on one of the news channels that japan is 5th overall right behind the US.

"most of the world believes" correction: most of the world doesnt care.

And these are "scholars"? Both South and North Korea were part of the Japanese Empire from 1910 to 1945. Koreans as Imperial Japanese soldiers invaded other Asian countries. South Korea is not anywhere close to being a WWII victim as China is.

and this is why they are scholars and you are not.

The whole concept of ballistic missile defense (BMD) is a fallacy since the systems (AEGIS, THAAD, PAC-3 etc) have very little chance of hitting supersonic objects traveling at 4 miles per second.  Even in canned scenarios where origin, trajectory and speed are all known, BMD platforms almost always fail to hit their targets.  And that's not even factoring decoys into the equation which further increases failure rates.  The issue or hope of a failed attack lies not in the BMD capability, but the aggressors technology in accurately hitting its target.

One of the saddest articles I have ever read.

A good friend of mine in the national guard had some their paratroopers attached to their unit in Iraq, they werent allowed to carry their weapons which is ridiculous. He says they were always the first ones up, cleaning up the camps. Needless to say my buddy loved having them around!

Interesting they present this as an agenda instead of first training the males to learn how to fight, since none of the enlisted men or commissioned men in the jsdf have ever been in combat.

Having the technology and equipment is only half of the equation to warfare. The other 50% is the actual ability of the armed forces service member to execute the art of warfare. Japan is simply not a legitimate armed force in readiness.

@5speedracer. Your flippant attitude to just forget about one of the greatest global events fought by the Greatest Generation makes Americans want to puke. No, we don't want to settle any old scores, we just want one of the greatest, world altering events to not be forgotten or belittled as you would like. And it is not far in the past, there are people living today that participated in the war, bet you didn't know that! Go tell them you think WWII is irrelevant today, as it shaped what we see in the world order as we know it in the present. And most do have more important things to do, and fortunately they are more significant than what you have in mind!

Im no expert on company restructuring and takeovers, but I cant imagine japan inc being happy with a foreign takeover of one of the most iconic brands japan has ever produced.

I just read a few weeks ago that Japan apologized about the comfort women predicament. Then they release this report. I have no idea what to think about their intentions.

You know, this has always vexed me. How is that Japan, a leading industry in robotics (I think) not allow its products to take the world stage? I remember during the fukushima disaster, when they televised video captured inside the reactor, I thought immediately that it was a Japanese robot being controlled, it wasn't, it was a US robot! All our drones (commercial and military) are all US inspired or made. Why doesn't Japan project its robotics industry worldwide?

@Peeping_Tom, that's funny you say that "Neither copied nor stolen", just this morning the 18th Wing CG's first question during his stand up meeting was "did they get the stealth from us?" Thought that was funny!

Its just a tech demonstrator to showcase its (proclaimed) stealth tech without it being outfitted on an actual fighter airframe. They already showed this last year if I remember but its maiden flight was delayed due to software issues. Simply too small to be classified as a fighter since there is now way to fit ordnance inside the fuselage. Cant wait to see how it performs!

Wait, did I read that right? An American pilot flying a zero in Japan?? Must be more to that story!

An American Hero! I can still remember all the classes that revolved around this mountain of a man back at the academy.

Mitsuo, the movie you saw was just to bring up the controversy of the "winds message" that was supposedly the trigger and should have been the clear indicator that a sneak attack was imminent. However the NSA has already debunked this "theory". Unfortunately there are liberal sacks here in the US that are apologists and wish to spread mis-information on what was a significant historical event and tragedy.

@hide suzuki

I never said I had a problem with it! I merely said they will have a hard time selling, its a free world by all means lift the ban. Nobody should be "alarmed" from a sales point of view, be it citizens, allies, and all others.

Don't see what the fuss is about from the Japanese citizen perspective. I don't think that anyone would want to purchase any of their weapon/military systems since they would be a.) most likely overpriced b.) not combat proven. The military technology market is monopolized by 3 countries, Japanese tech would have an incredibly difficult time finding a niche in the international market (aside from the aux and small parts they contribute to American defense contractors, which they do a very good job of making btw). Typically you go with whats combat ready and tested.

The F-35 program is the epitome of how our military has lost track of its mission and vision. The Marines have put all their funding into this vice its bread and butter, amphibious warfare. The F-35 has taken money away from its EFV, what it really needs to replace the ancient AAV-7. This is coming from a former F-14 pilot and former SFTI (aka TOPGUN) instructor. F-35's will maintain our already superior air superiority, but it wont counter the ease of which our enemies can neutralize and mitigate this as a poster already stated. Our enemies (future and current) already know the easiest way to make us use air power inefficiently is to use drones, the fighter variety. Just like we currently use F-4 drones (QF-4s) from our old phantom jets, our enemies can use the same cheap, simple tech to outfit old MiG-17's as drones. Put a missile on it and we have NO CHOICE but to take it out no matter what the armament. As long as our radar shows a threat, our doctrine is to take it out. Our jets carry finite A/A missiles, bottom line is that we have fewer missiles then the enemy has drones. And then we have to deal with 5th generation fighters with humans in them. A very scary future!

10. So true, every morning at 530am when I run I see the legions of old folks walking around with tongs and plastic bags cleaning up trash on the streets. I see old couples walking and picking up trash on their strolls. This amazes me and I am utterly impressed that people pick up trash that they do not generate. I will say that this activity is exclusive to OLD folks only. I have never seen any middle-aged or younger folks partaking in this act, I can only hope the youngins can learn from example.

Not very tactical having that giant white and red bullseye on the side of your camoflauged tactical vehicle! No weapon mounted on that turret either, wonder if they launch tako yaki balls from a slingshot at the pirates. I jest, I jest!

Hikaru is a beautiful young lady with amazing talent. Sad to hear about this tragedy. I still remember her album she released in the states, I was stunned by her beauty then and still am!

That would be an odd acquisition, though I notice that paper seems predominant in both the physical medium as well as morning news shows (where they bring out those big boards and peeling paper to discuss the news). I heard from someone that the ability to read Japanese newspapers determines your literacy rate. As for Amazon japan, it absolutely blows away amazon USA, I have ordered things on amazon jp and received it later that evening!

OssanAmerica, My comment was highlighting what seems to be the main focus of this website, to point out the multiple territorial disputes that japan has with its neighbors. I honestly dont care what any of these countries argue about as it doesnt concern me as an American I just wish that other more interesting news would be focused on. I know that you as a Japanese national care about this but it does get old after a while seeing a headline about terriority A being encroached upon by country B.

Japan sure does have a lot of territorial disputes with many different nations, wonder why that is.

Docomo, another legacy of japans ancient and archaic business models. No apple still and they will continue to lose market share to competitors. When will they learn that apple rules the mobile phone market?

I thought you were of the view that Taiwan was its own country, but dont japanese people see Taiwan as part of China?

Now this is the kind of bizarre news from Japan that I love to read about! Amazing that these kinds of things exist, even more amazing is that people took the time and resources to develop these crazy devices!