UnagiDon comments

What Grafton said, especially considering that there is no other way to give any feedback or comment on this site.

tkoind2;

Bet there's are also a lot of people around the world on $1 or $2 a day who would consider owing any cell phone or having Internet access (like you?) to be a symbol of conspicuous consumption and the sign of a moral criminal.

Afterall most of the accumulated wealth in this world was gathered at the expense of poor working people, their resources, labor and blood.

So how did you accumulate your personal wealth?

If you're going to preach from a soapbox, consider that for the poor of the world your lifestyle would also be seen as wasteful and full of needless luxuries. The only difference between you and someone who aspires to own a phone like this is one of scale - for someone really at the bottom, that scale is not so noticeable.

Sushi originated in other parts of Asia- However, much like Tempura, the Japanese have layed claim to it. Lets set the record straight shall we.

Let's, as I've heard this nonsense repeated often here. Fermenting rice in fish originated in Southeast Asia, however the rice was not eaten. That's a far cry from sushi. The Japanese started eating the rice too, and over centuries this evolved into sushi.

The best way to teach the "Toyota wannabes" is to ban the company outright from further business dealings in the USA- save lives, protect the public !

I agree, and I'm sure the ~30,000 Toyota employees in the US would be 100% behind such an obviously reasonable and rational position and gladly give up their livelihoods, not to mention the innumerable suppliers, because you're obviously looking out for their best interests.

The Economist had a good article last week on the huge reserves of natural gas in North America and the Asian export focus of a lot of the new developments. Japan (and South Korea and China) will not have to worry about supply for some time.

Obviously they do it to give foreign residents of Japan something else to whine about. They're so inscrutable, those Nihonjin.

An afterlife is a load of hooey, and once people broadly grasp that and then realize that this life is all there is, I'd like to think that humanity would take better care of each other and the Earth. But given the grip that the death cults have over so many people, I'm not too optimistic about that happening any time soon.

It is laughable to suggest there could still be room for compromise

Spoken like a true zealot.

Tigerlily4;

That (Canada)should be the last country allowed to vote!

Hardly last, and talking about who should be "allowed" to vote is nonsense - perhaps the UK, US, Russia, Germany, Norway should also be forbidden from voting due to their complicity in fisheries collapses? Try to spend less time demonising certain countries and more time proposing constructive solutions which involve working with all parties involved. If you can't get everything you want (e.g. total ban), move to the next best solution rather than ranting about the evil and barbaric Japanese, Canadians, European Unionians, ad nauseum.

Although the article focuses too much on the quality of physical infrastructure in Japan, it glosses over the (relative) lack of a VC infrastructure. Businesses that capitalize on the physical inrastructure (like IT or consulting) will do much better than those that don't - those I know who have succeeded most as entrepreneurs in Japan have found and exploited a niche in a knowledge industry.

And as someone else said, JETRO and some local governments (like Yokohama) will bend over backward to help businesses get started in Japan and provide office space, as long as you have a good business case. Anyone can say that they're an entrepreneur, but that doesn't mean that they have good business sense.

And yes, speaking the local language will go a long way, but that ought to be a no-brainer.

sf2k;

Canada Failed. That is why I comment, in fact am entitled to comment being of a nation that already failed and who was hoping that Japan would LEARN instead of fail

Good point - that makes it all the more galling that Canada actually supported Japan in blocking this ban. You'd think we'd know better having experienced our own fisheries collapses.

I didn't know that the sequel to Spawn was out.

Why the reluctance among Japanese to call this "incident" terrorism?

What reluctance are you talking about?

Dumb and dumber.

Yeah, keep on rooting for those imaginary boycotts from "lots of people around the world". Then the J economy can tank and you can all lose your jobs teaching English and will be forced go back to your home countries to do something you're qualified for, like telemarketing?

tkoind2;

Japan needs to wake up to the growing violent crime here.

While I'm sure "Japan" appreciates your unsolicited advice, you're operating from a false premise. Japan's violent crime rate is shrinking, not growing - murder rate has been going down for years.

Media hype, as evidenced by JT, is going up. Have any unsolicited advice for Japanese media on that?

I doubt it, but if so the LDP takes far more of the blame for it from their time in power.

sf2k;

Quite straighforward. All the rest is just a ...red.. herr... You can figure that out.

I agree - laws of the US appear to have been broken, those charged (US and Japanese?) have admitted to it, and yes, they should be charged for breaking the laws of the US. My point was that many here seem to be using this as an excuse to point the finger at Japan, despite this being an issue of American law in the US.

Now if it turns out the Sei whale was exported from Japan, that would change things, if it turns out it came from Aboriginal hunts in the US or Canada, it's got nothing to do with Japan.

It's been far too long since Aya graced these pages, she's still got it.

This story is a great example of the revolting tendency of far too many JT posters (and JT itself) to hinge every story possible around issues of race and nationality.

Junnama;

I like the 80's look on Col. Ninotchka there!!

Seriously - I felt like belting out 99 Luftballoons after seeing that. She's kinda hot, too boot.

Believers in these conspiracy theories are a sad lot. This conclusion from a report of conspiracy theorists about sums it up "It seems likely that conspiratorial beliefs serve a similar psychological function to superstitious, paranormal and, more controversially, religious beliefs, as they help some people to gain a sense of control over an unpredictable world,”

smithinjapan;

I did get a kick out of your post telling others to "relax" and then following up with lots of words in capital letters and exclamation marks.

the US presence here is as valuable if not moreso to their nation as it is to the US, and that the current cabinet trying to throw that away

How exactly is the current cabinet trying the throw the US military presence away, as opposed to a realignment? I think you're operating from a false premise there. The J government is not trying to kick out the US military presence, full stop.

smithinjapn;

First and foremost NKorea poses a threat to Japan

Wrong, and you need to stop fixating on Japan. First and foremost North Korea poses a threat to South Korea. If you can't grasp that simple point, why bother posting here?

HTC

...and the denial continues.

But there is a fine line between being proud and being arrogant.

Ah, the irony of this comment...

Wow, sour grapes don't again begin to describe that. More like a complete and utter denial of reality...

Branded;

Where ya been, buddy? We've missed you!

So when will these "cooler heads" you mention show up and prevail? Certainly not in your comment, which lacked even a single note of congratulations to the worlds greatest hockey nation and undisputed kicker of American butt, aka Canada.

It's not like you have to agree that the beaver rolled all over the supine eagle and had its way, true though that may be, but is it really too much to ask for a sportsman-like thanks to your mighty neighbour to the north?

Judging from the previous flurry of comments on a long dormant topography, it seems like Ms. Oh's tolerance and eagerness to improved relations with Japan are not shared by her fellow citizens.