ultradork comments

Conbinis, as the name implies, sell time. And time is expensive. If you had the time you'd make greet tea from cheap bags or powder & mix at your office, not buy it drinks the conbini. Or you'd make your own healthy & cheap snacks, or bento, etc, etc. It is simply a trade off, saving time and trouble, you pay extra.

Neversubmit: any evidence? How about a link to or a picture of these devices? As others have pointed out, these cards, like Suica, etc are proximity cards i.e. - must be within inches of a reader to be read. If you are still worried, wrap your card in tinfoil, heard it makes a good hat liner, too. Deja vu - because folks made the same claims when the new passports came out with IC chips a few yrs ago.

I think most people have much more important things to worry about in their lives here than frickin' pandas. I understand the zoo workers being upset - this is their livelihood. Sorry, none of my friends or co-workers will give more than a passing comment to this event. When an animal is notoriously fickle about breeding and only has one or two tiny offspring at a go, why would anyone be surprised when it doesn't work out. Keep calm and carry on.

Keep calm & carry on!

Otaku2012 - this system and card have nothing to do with acquiring Japanese citizenship. It is simply an ID card for non-Japanese residents of Japan.

Yes, this is bad news for those here illegally. A few kinks are to be expected in a new system, too bad for the early adopters though, saw a big line of gaijin at Narita immigration yesterday and they had one empty lane for residents - zipped through myself. Like many I won't need the new card for quite some time but do greatly appreciate getting rid of the re-entry permit, which seemed just a tax on legal residents when they traveled outside of Japan. I will miss putting obscure countries on the application for the multiple re-entry permit when it asked where I would visit - I would put Burkino Faso, San Marino, Suriname, etc. Always thought it was a strange question as I didn't have trips planned out years in advance and it was none of their beeswax.

She at least was given a reason - few firms will do so at that level of hiring.

I use Amazon, iCloud, iTunes, Gmail, Google Docs, Picasa, Dropbox and Evernote - all cloud based, of course. My database at work is cloud-based, as well. I just don't think I'm that important or that interesting for anyone to give a frack about my data. Nothing to hide, either - move along. Besides the ease of use/access on any PC, phone, iPad, and ease of collaboration and sharing, etc there is the back-up factor. Keeping everything in once place is great - until a fire, flood or earthquake destroys that place or you are the victim of physical theft, for that matter. To each his/her own, we all have to way convenience vs. risk.

The example in the article is ridiculous. How are you going to raise a family in a 50m2 place? Would be tight with even one kid. And at that rental price, it must be an older building an undesirable part of town. Would you want to own something similar for 20+ yrs?

Much rather fly this than the A-380. Bigger plane = more pain. More passengers just mean more chances of problems and delays. Perhaps this is why Airbus is actually creating a direct competitor to the 787, it will launch in a couple of yrs.

Some of these things are out of date or inane. Serious dearth of beer vending machines and elevator girls these days. I'm a fan of both - should have elevator girls AT the beer machines :) ETC - that is pretty ubiquitous in developed countries. Everything's relative - if you are from a remote town in Burkino Faso, a lot of things here are downright bizarre. If you moved here from a major urban area in a developed country and are reasonably well-traveled, much less is surprising. By the way, drinking water from the tap - a lot of folks are NOT doing that lately.

Lame attempt by them but it took me a few clicks and 10 seconds to fix it. Living in Japan w/ friends and family far away, FB is occasionally useful to keep in touch but I certainly don't obsess over it and there's no need to get upset about something I can change so easily.

Agreed, I always proffer my Japanese driver's license for ID first and normally it is sufficient. Got my int'l license in Kanda yesterday, a short walk from Otemachi, total breeze, took 5 minutes. Going early in the day, in the middle of the week is the way to go, too. The guy seemed happy that I was a permanent resident, not sure why.

I switched just before my US license expired, fortunately passed the driving test the 1st time. (Many other gaijin I took it with had failed multiple times) This week I have to go get an international license so that I can drive in the US under my Japanese license - fun.

Falsely arresting Japanese citizens would hardly be the way to retaliate and Japan has gotten special conciliation to keep buying Iranian oil so that idea is weak. If there is a market people will try to fill it - some folks have strange risk/reward evaluation mechanisms.

whew - $12M, that's a lot of boinking

This is an excellent trend (that I can drink to), and has been building for the last 20 yrs...for example, Sam Adams & Sierra Nevada, two firms that started as "micro brews" are now practically national brands. One US brand that has stood the test of time is Anchor Steam. I've always referred people to that company's beers when they say traditional US beer is flavorless pee. Baird Brewery out of Numazu, Shizuoka has been doing a great job of raising the bar here in Japan AND having all venues ban smorking from the beginning - just like Starbucks, people said it wouldn't fly but the lung dart addicts were wrong.

50,000 people fly in from all over the world for a "green" summit - err, FAIL.

As other posters are saying - the sheer size of this thing seems ridiculous. But to be honest if I had a chance to attend a conference in Rio I'd be smiling all the way there. Used to live in Sao Paulo but a bit too young to really enjoy it.

@alan - perhaps the woman's horrible bacteria will die a fiery death?

The Osprey is a revolutionary style of aircraft ... just as the helicopter was back in its day. If you compare the number of crashes that helicopters had before they became as reliable and ubiquitous as they are today, the Osprey actually starts to look pretty good. It is just back then the politics were not played out on the internet by chair-force pilots. If you take out the accidents caused by vortex ring state, which is now a know condition easily avoided, the history is actually quite reasonable. It is the first of a new breed ... it will not be perfect and it will be expensive. By the time this technology hits 2nd or 3rd generation the US will have a massive tactical advantage over other nations. Whatever style of combat that will be encountered in the future, there will likely be a need to get boots on the ground and equipment moved. Transports are not going away any time soon. When it comes to transports, the Osprey already significantly beats helicopters in the areas that matter: range, speed and lift ... and it is only first generation. The next generations should be able to address some of the short comings of the Osprey like armament and reliability. They will likely add range, speed and lift capacity as well. Helicopters are mature ... they do not have much range to improve. The Osprey is not just a single machine that happens to not be perfect. It is an in-the-field, functional design that is the precursor for much better things to come ... both military and eventually private (just like helicopters). People who slam the Osprey are either short-sighted or political pawns (most likely both).

Smart to stick to the point that he lacked intent to murder but...should be an easy conviction for manslaughter without malice aforethought. I wonder how the previous charge makes sense? Buying a women drinks is perfectly legal and they get in a taxi with you and you feel them up. The taxi driver doesn't know if they are married, friends, whatever. Obviously, if she was alive she could potentially say the touching/grabbing was unwanted and actually an "assault" but how many taxi drivers see fondling in the back of their cab late at night where the women complain - must happen x200/night in Tokyo between drunks? If it goes beyond what seems a couple of some sort having a disagreement and gets violent and the woman is screaming or something wouldn't the taxi driver go straight to a koban and not drop them off at a hotel? This first part I find somewhat puzzling.

Austin Powers...

Yes and every time every human and animal exhales - CO2 is released - OMG!

I'll try it but have low expectations. Usually, I find cold green tea to be the best choice during the day. A bit of caffeine, vitamin C, no calories and if it happens to actually fight cancer, that's an added bonus. I make a strong espresso at home every morning to kick-start the day. Grind the beans fresh, enjoy black, no sugar or milk. In warmer months I pour it into a beer mug that I keep in the freezer, cools it without diluting it.

Let’s pretend that any health hazard from passive smoking is a myth, for the moment; in a restaurant most customers would like to enjoy the TASTE of the food and not have our clothes and hair STINK of smoke. Not to mention increased safety (fire source) and nasty ashtrays. Every time I visit Hong Kong it is simply fantabulous that every bar and restaurant is smoke free. Imagine it. If a dynamic, bustling place like that can do it, why not Tokyo?

This guy needs help, that is certain. If there was no evidence of selling or distribution, the sentence should be light - harm to the victims is minimal relative to a chikan where there is physical contact. Perhaps the police should do more to make people aware of what these pervs are doing. I've caught guys on the train and turned them in myself a couple of times, actually. All around you everyday as you commute - keep your eyes peeled. Recently, a neurosurgeon in Nagoya was arrested for the same thing, boggles my mind...all that education and training - flush.

Start them. A decision to phase out nuclear power might be the right path eventually in the long term but not all of a sudden. With over 50 nuclear plants in the country, most of them have to be used for the time being (10-15 yrs). During that time, investment and research into sustainable power production from wind, tidal and solar power may yield reliable & cost-effective alternatives but we are a long way away from that. Billions of dollars were spent in the design, construction and initial running of these plants and Japan needs consistent power that isn't derived from imported fossil fuels. Otherwise, Tepco will keep raising our electric bills (did you get your notice?) and then with the consumption tax increases, every single person here will paying a lot more for the privilege and the poor will be completely screwed.

The jihadis near the top have to communicate a lot with their brethern - eventually this will gets them caught and a chance to fulfill their dream as a martyr. Who's getting promoted?

Nice gimmick and lots of people will fall for it. When beer is too cold it loses all its flavor but why spoil the party.