ViennaSausage2 comments

Typical gender double standard...If it were 20 boys who surrounded a girl and beat the crap out of her, it would be international news...but because the situation is reversed, people just laugh it off. The girl is obviously a nutbar and capable of probably much worse...what these girls did constitutes serious criminal activity

How does she know that it was "a pickpocket" and not simply a case of her losing or misplacing her wallet? And I am betting if you bother asking any American if they have ever been a victim of a pickpocket, 99% percent of them will say "no". What a bunch of crap.

Though I am not a huge fan of Kiss, I have to say it's about time. How could the "Rock n' Roll" snub these icons of Rock while allowing the likes Madonna, The Sex Pistols , and Bobby Darrin to get in in basically their first eligible year? There are a lot of politics at play here and it's definitely not Fan based .

Kazuaki Shimazaki Irrational fears? Tell that to the people of Fukushima. And to all of those complaining that the government is not listening to the average person on the street. For crying out loud...this country is supposed to be a democracy. Isn't a democracy by definition the will of the people? Why don't they just vote these fruitcake sour of office? The reason is th Japanese public are too politically apathetic to really make the effort and vote... Again...A democracy gets the government it deserves

Herd mentality

A democracy gets a government. It deserves. There is no true outrage in Japan. No university students care...Few salarymen (whom I know) no much about it. The only people that appear to car are academic types and older people that know are aware of the true nature of Japan.

Hoserfella Hilarious quip. Made me burst out laughing.

What a despicable country.

"NINETEEN YEARS OLD" is an adult and should be tried as an adult.

When will America stop copying Japanese ideas?

Welcome to Clowntown

Even the usual suspect right wingers and Japanophiles on this (Jaapntoday) site don't defend these guys.

Absolutely heartbreaking.

She looked ridiculous. She obviously is trying very hard to make that difficult jump from child star to adult star, but I think the main problem is, she looked stupid, not sexy. She wasn't properly "twerking" (which actually may be a good thing)., she can't dance, her ass is flat, and her tongue was coated white (constipated?). Whatever it was, it was an embarrassment

Has to be some mental issues going on here.... Nonetheless, good to see he is back home safely with his family

Out of 300 people, all of them dated in High school? Well, either some of the participants in the survey are lying or the article is bogus.

Even the usual suspects (Japanese apologists or Japanophiles) stay always from this topic.

Says you

I agree with nigelboy in his assertion that since the Japanese market is so large, there's not as much incentive (as the Koreans) to market it globally. And I am absolutely sure that Quincy Jones is doing this for the cash.. .Psy is (was?) just a novelty act and there is absolutely zero chance of him of having any staying power. I can't see Korean acts having any impact on the American market....It just won't happen.

Always amazed when I see kids standing up in cars while the adults are nicely strapped in. Another beauty is when people pulll over to the side of the road and block a lane to talk on the telephone. Another extremely dangerous road activity that is very commin in Japan is cyclists riding across intersection roadways. Never once have I seen any of this get ticketed, What I have seen though is an inordinate amount of police time devoted to checking bicycle licenses.

Scott Johnson "Psychobabble" ? Geesh..Zichi states that even though his wife and he value love over sex, they still maintain a healthy sex life... I compliment him on a "healthy, committed relationship' and you chastise my comment as "pyschobabble"? Ease up big fella

Yabits So you say that addressing the educational and rate of crime disparities will have only a "marginal impact" on the plight of the black community, and believe our energy would best be spent on topics as to how mistreated Rachel Jeantel has been mistreated? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?

This is not a case of racial profiling, something the media and protesters have been pushing from day one, but rather ridiculous gun laws that exist in the United States. If people anything good could come of this perhaps it would be to put a major push to change the gun laws and to address the root causes and frustration of the black community. Racial profiling exists but it exists for a reason...Something any newscaster commentator, editor, celebrity, or man on the street dare not say...Because if you openly address the issues that are plaguing the Black community (and you are non-black) such as the disproportionate amount of black children born into one parent homes, disproportionate crime rare stats, disproportionate educational drop out rate, you will be labelled a racist...you will be crucified. Therefore, instead of addressing these issues, everybody tap dances around the elephant in the room and talks about racial profiling as if at is the cause of all these issues. Which it is not...And everybody (including black people know this). Shame on all those who have jumped on the band wagon to serve their own self righteous agendas; meanwhile the black community continues to wallow in desperation with no solutions to their community's plight other than excuses. Yabits...You want to do real good? Take all this misguided energy you've been putting into your posting about this case and direct it toward long term solutions for the black community. Petition the government to: invest into educational programs for inner city children Reinitiate affirmative action programs in both the work place and in colleges and universities invest into programs that encourage and assist the black family unit. invest into the economies of inner cities

This is not a case of racial profiling, something the media and protesters have been pushing from day one, but rather ridiculous gun laws that exist in the United States. If people anything good could come of this perhaps it would be to put a major push to change the gun laws and to address the root causes and frustration of the black community. Racial profiling exists but it exists for a reason...Something any newscaster commentator, editor, celebrity, or man on the street dare not say...Because if you openly address the issues that are plaguing the Black community (and you are non-black) such as the disproportionate amount of black children born into one parent homes, disproportionate crime rare stats, disproportionate educational drop out rate, you will be labelled a racist...you will be crucified. Therefore, instead of addressing these issues, everybody tap dances around the elephant in the room and talks about racial profiling as if at is the cause of all these issues. Which it is not...And everybody (including black people know this). Shane on all those who have jumped on the band wagon to serve their own self righteous agendas; meanwhile the black community continues to wallow in desperation with no solutions to their community's plight other than excuses. Yabits...You want to do real good? Take all this misguided energy you've been putting into your posting about this case and direct it toward long term solutions for the black community. Petition the government to: *invest into educational programs for inner city children

Reinitiate affirmative action programs in both the work place and in colleges and universities invest into programs that encourage and assist the black family unit. invest into the economies of inner cities

Zilch Thanks for the honesty. Signs of a very healthy, committed relationship.

Talexa05 Japanese values such as revising history? Let's for argument's sake, say that Abe's version of history is correct. How the hell is becoming more nationalistic going to help Japan? Economically, Japan is being eclipsed by both China and Korea...Most agree that Japan's best days are behind it. Socially, there is an ever growing aging population, a declining birth rate, and the young Japanese (from my layman's perspective) are a pampered, coddled bunch that pale in comparison to their previous generations. Militarily, it is completely dependent on the United States, and even if it had a decent military, the Chinese military is formidable now. What values are you talking about?

With China becoming ever more stronger (militarily and economically) now is not the time to become uppity. This is a very tough neighborhood and the only reason it has been stable for as long as it has is because of the United States. Period. I completely understand Japan's need for a decent defense force and try to move away from its over reliance on the US for protection, but to start waving the flag of nationalism and taunting China ( who would love to bite back) ...Well, I just can't see how this is going end well for Japan... A war economically or militarily will soon be impossible against China....Accept this and and put all the nationalistic energy and fervor into new ideas for building better diplomatic relations.

Perhaps the big difference is that western foreigners act politely and friendly because they want to and and it's a visceral response to an everyday situation. Japanese on the other hand act in the manner of what's expected of them. On the other hand, that's why you might see way more verbal and physical fights in western countries ...So being genuine has its good points and bad points

To say that Japan didn't pull a fast one (or at least think they were) with Pearl Harbor is ridiculous. They were in negotiations to end the oil embargo right up to The attack. Whether the US government was aware of their intent is irrelevant....it was underhanded plain and simple.

A long term foreign resident's opinions on the matter of Japanese etiquette and social conditioning is (in many cases) just as valid as a Japanese person's..Not only that, the foreigner will have the added benefit of being able to juxtaposing the two cultures....One does not have to be completely fluent in the language or understand all the cultural backdrop or cues to be able to come to the determination that the Japanese on the whole are pretty stressed out. Just my 2 cents...