TrevorPeace1 comments

Elbuda Mexicano, you've got a point. Let's hope they aren't nuts enough to do it, that their parents and the police - and possibly some mental therapy - prevents that from happening.

I'd hate to live in the US if she becomes president. In fact, I hate the thought of her international relationships being manipulated by her (still, but meagerly) husband. What a tragedy in the making, for all US citizens (I don't call them Americans because they usurped that now nominal identification from its proper use by the natives in both Canada and the US, and Canadians, to boot. Let the US suffer like a dying Roman empire, because that's where they're at, believe it or not.

Thanks, JT - just in time for my six-week tour of the country.

Dancing late at night. Now, there's a criminal act if I've ever read of one. Perhaps the powers-that-be should address their own discretions, like frequenting places that abuse women, like maid-cafes???

I'm not a cat-hater, but this is just plain stupid.

It's not just the signs. I've seen so many poorly spelled English words on t-shirts, sweatshirts and other garments I could fill a truck with them. My favorite - on a nautical-themed girl's shirt in big letters: Ensing.

The list of drugs should be in this story. Making readers look elsewhere for it is slovenly reporting.

Of course, Putin will oversee it. And that's where it will stop. Pity the poor Russians who think this thug is their answer to joining the rest of the world in the 21st century.

I'll go with Brainiac on the Beatles, but as for the Elvis thing, it's primarily a Japanese fetish, as well as an American obsession. Christmas carols, definitely. But I'd go a bit further and say Mozart, Chopin, and Bach will still be a mainstay among lovers of full-bodied music. But I'm just a musician, so what do I know?

I disagree. Japanese food and beverage makers MUST market their products to North American and European consumers. Their problem is that they don't know how - they think they can do it from a Japanese perspective, but they refuse to acknowledge that their markets have a different perspective. Those North American and European consumers would LOVE to enjoy Japanese foods and beverages, but those consumers don't have a reference they can depend on, in order to enjoy the experience. Keep It Simple Stupid! But that's beyond the Japanese, in soooooo many ways.

S**t happens. Get over it.

The fact that people buy them, thinking they're actually 'smart' (the people, as well as the phones).

I haven't flown a powered aircraft, only a glider and hang-glider, and instructed the latter, and I can say one thing unequivocally, I'd trust an older pilot before a younger one, not because the younger one isn't any more qualified but because old or young, they both have to be tested continuously, in flight theory and practice. Besides, I'm over 60 and can still do any of the jobs I did when younger, but prefer retirement.

I think it's awesome. Certainly, a malfunction MIGHT happen, @papigiulio, but this is Japan, where automation is the world's best. I'd love to see this in places like Copenhagen, Paris and a half-dozen other cities around the world where cycling is a lifestyle that beats the automobile.

I'll check it out when I'm in Kyoto, in a few weeks and have the occasion to rent a bike for a week.

@Commodore, I feel for you, but I have to laugh at the mask in the photo. I can't imagine what people would think of me (a non-allergenic person, thankfully) if I wore that thing! Like I said, I feel for you, and every other hay-fever sufferer, and I promise not to make an issue of it when I arrive back in the country for my annual two-month trek around the countryside in two weeks.

Ouch!

This Canadian doesn't like TPP, not just because of the US's draconian copyright laws, but because it's the US president, not elected representatives that wants to dictate its terms. Canada's Prime Minister and International Trade Minister at least listen to their constituents, as much as they listen to Corporate Canada.

The way for any of us to make an impact is to write to those representatives and express our opinions and concerns, not to flail about on discussions forums like this one.

@Kabukilover, you can't blame Merkel for poverty and suicides in Greece. The Greeks have for decades abused their own state through social engineering policies that are extremely counter-productive. They're now just paying the price. And as for Hitler, let's just get over him, okay? Russian-German relations might be a bit tense, right now, because of Russia's backing of the rebels in Ukraine, but that, too, will go by. At least, I can only hope.

“We have lost the trust and the confidence of our friends. We definitely no longer inspire fear in our enemies,” he said.

He can add Canada to that.

Nikon, I'm ashamed of you. And to think I'm shooting Japan for the next three months with a Nikon! I fell like jumping off a bridge!

OstapBender, I don't believe it's because the Japanese government is a puppet of the USA. I think that was a specious comment. I'm considered a Japanophile by the Japanese in my Canadian home town, and they've never brought up the subject, in spite of the fact that we interned the people of Japanese heritage and took away all their property. They, like me, say, "War is war. War was war. Let's not let it happen again."

The choice of the US was simple - invade the Japanese islands at tremendous cost of human life on both sides, or drop the bomb and tell them there's more to come if you don't surrender. No apology necessary, let's just get over it, shall we?

What a loser! She should quit worrying about herself and do her job efficiently!'

As for any of her co-workers who have the skills and abilities to get their sales work done in reasonable time so they can pick up their kids and have a life, I, as a retired media sales manager (find a more stressful position in sales management, I dare you) say, 'Go for it', you at least have your priorities straight. I insisted that my staff take every Friday afternoon off and call in from home only once, to check that all things are okay.

So, don't stay late, don't go out drinking with the other ostriches that have their heads buried in their employers' a**es, and enjoy what life's all about, and it isn't work. Stress that kills is best left to the person who says, "I might not be able to handle that."

They're cringing in person, so why wouldn't they be cringing on a fatuous ego-driven web server? Facebook should rename itself to Faceless.

WHERE??? I'll be back in Japan on those dates, and would like to attend, if the meeting's there, and of course if my country's embassy (Canada) could arrange it.

Wouldn't anyone here be interested in being a fly on the wall???

True, JohnBecker. Sad, but true. Knowing golf courses, and I do, having used them since I was nine, as a golfer, I can see such a tragedy happening at this time of year, anywhere. Just wish I couldn't imagine it.

To mothers Yonezawa and Okazaki, gomen nasai.

This is a tough one. I've been visiting Japan for several years, for between one and three months every time, and while I appreciate some of the comments in this thread, I have to say that I really haven't had a problem with anything. As Australian Robyn Davidson, one of my favourite modern day adventurers, said after trekking 2,700 kilometres across the Australian desert in 1977, 'I like the growth and learning processes that develop from taking chances...To be free is to learn, to test yourself constantly, to gamble. It is not safe. I had learnt to use my fears as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks.' We're about the same age, and I'm sure she, like me, still has that go-for-it fun attitude about travel. I just wish I could read and speak better Japanese because I miss so many unusual opportunities by not being able to understand signage.

See y'all for cherry blossoms!

No mention of the increased potential for strikes against Israel? Hmmm...

I'll stick with the blossoms, thanks.

Agreed, Frederic Bastiat!

And I'll add they only want the UN to do the dirty business because Arabs don't like the idea of killing other Arabs, and they don't like spending their oil money on military.

The detractors are all screaming about oil spills when pipelines are the safest mode of transport of heavy crude. Obama is a shill to Hollywood, where so-called 'celebrities' jump on bandwagons to get their names in the tabloids. Bad international relations don't matter to the mindless hordes of whores in the US who crave attention. Watch Obama screw his nation for the votes of the simplistics. They should all form a new band with that name. Could be the next disco queens.

It's supposed to be a two-way street. Love is as love does, not gets. As for chocolate, melt a little bit, spread it on your lover and go for it.