yasukuni comments

"Receiving a confession also gives the client the right to request a special “room delivery course”, which is priced at 10,000 yen per hour and only available with staff aged 18 and above."

Sounds perfectly innocent to me...

Second time I read that I saw "confession", and "special room delivery" and thought it was something the Catholic priests were trying out.

The media says Japan needs strong leaders who will stand up to China and Korea. Then everyday they have Hashimoto and Ishihara on TV.

Maybe there's a message in there.....

What's wrong with a bit of Christmas stuff. The kids at my local public day care used to be taken to a small shrine and shown how to pray here but it didn't upset me at all. People take this separation of church and state too far.

"Does this country have anything resembling a long time, political strategy?"

Yes. Politicians want to stay in power for as long as they can.

"Japan Restoration Party and the Party of the Sun, led by two of Japan’s most outspoken politicians—have enjoyed intense local media coverage"

Gee, I never noticed that. But it's good they're getting so much coverage, because without Ishihara and Hashimoto Japan is doomed. Maybe they can just show them 24hrs.

" just stepping back a few feet will keep you safe from teddy bears"

I dunno, an angry woman throwing teddy bears would probably be pretty frightening for many of the cops I've seen here. Many of them would probably retreat and then regroup behind their patrol cars.

"Healthy porn should be encouraged in order to stimulate peoples will to want to have sex"

Maybe I just have super high testosterone levels or something .... but I'm amazed anyone would need any extra stimulation. I avoid looking at those mags to try and DE-stimulate.!

Makes me remember when I first came to Japan and saw people standing and reading so intently and I innocently wondered why all the guys were at a certain section. At first I thought it must be car magazines cos I didn't think anyone would be so brazen to just look at girlie magazines for so long. Esp not in your own neighborhood. But, I've learned a lot since then.

Anyway, I think DPJ will be in trouble. But that started when Hatoyama and Ozawa started attacking Kan right after the earthquake which to me was the beginning of the end. In a normal world, LDP would have put aside any attacks on the govt for a few months after the 3/11 and Hatoyama and Ozawa would have not attacked the PM at such a crucial time, let alone join in with LDP.

Smith. Now you are really showing your colors! I've STUDIED Soka Gakkai. You are being silly. It's not just a case of people with similar interests and you KNOW that. Come on Smith. What I am saying is common knowledge. Japanese Soka Gakkai wouldn't refute it! So why would gaijin, unless they are totally out of the loop and still being courted, or see themselves as PR men?

Who do you think thought up the idea of Komeito? Just look at the history and all the comments made by Ikeda re Komeito. You honestly think that Komeito is free to hold different positions that Ikeda doesn't like?

But if the average foreign reader here doesn't understand the power and influence of Soka Gakkai in Japanese society (or at the VERY LEAST, the relationship between the gakkai and Komeito) they won't understand Japan.

"Why are you guys so scared of a party that is separated from the religion?"

I'm not scared at all? Should I be....?

" 'yasukuni' himself admits they are separated before he goes on to vent his misdirected anger."

I am saying that the organizations are "technically" separated. In case someone new to Japan thinks Komeito is CALLED the Soka Gakkai Party. But no, they aren't really that separate.

And I'm not angry at all. In fact I think it's funny. That you could seriously try to argue that they aren't linked is comical. Not venting. Man, if I went to the local SG meeting and said what you said THEY'D laugh!! lol

Man I should have known better than to say anything about SGI.....Man, the gaijin SGI I more fanatical than the Japanese!

A 40 year old Japanese woman and three trained male policemen?

Maybe they should have called for backup..

"Naughty Nurses Weekly"

My friend says he only buys that for the medical articles.

If you can believe what Smith and Bud said, I've got a gohonzon to sell you...!

LDP and Hashimoto/Ishihara will be the winners here. Komeito will get the same turnout they always get for the reasons I mentioned. Who joins what as a coalition will have nothing to do with ideology but more to do with political expediency. So it's anyone's guess what a coalition govt will look like.

But having members leave DLP for the reason that DLP shouldn't call an election because they're unpopular is kind of weird isn't it? Like, that will help DLP's chances...

Japanese politicians just like having meetings. One of the few countries where you get elected and then spend the rest of your time wondering about when to jump ship and join another party, or whether to start your own party instead.

It would be really funny if suddenly some of them decided to work for the electorate instead. Novel idea which hasn't really taken off here.

Smith and Elbuda, you are both being ridiculous. Yes, you are technically correct. Soka Gakkai is a religion, and Komeito is a political party. But that's about it. Anyone over 21 in Japan knows that Soka Gakkai started Komeito and all vote for it, the Komeito are all Soka Gakkai, and that come election time Japanese will all be getting phone calls asking them to vote for Komeito. And if you think that Ikeda Daisaku has nothing to do with what Komeito politicians ..you are either incredibly uninformed, or you are as I suspect a Soka Gakkai who is defending the indefensible.

Come on. Tell someone on the street now that Soka Gakkai has nothing to do with Komeito and watch the laughing begin!!

LDP, DLP, Hashimoto? Ishihara?

I'm actually glad I DON'T have the right to vote. What a choice!

Kurihara, Ishihara, Sigahara (or Sugawara?) and kenshoukai - interesting group of people.

Japan could do with a couple of hard-hitting current affairs programs. We live in hope.

It won't be the case, but I wish this case would just go away. Terrible for all the families involved.

Ask Japanese about it, and they come back from Europe and the US thinking Japanese are the conservative ones.

I think this idea that Westerners are Christians who hate sex and their bodies, while Japanese are Buddhists/shintoists who get naked and have sex without a thought is a overdone.

My knowledge of Japanese schools is based on just one school - my daughters. The classes I have watched were fantastic. If the system, and the teacher as as good as that for the coming years I would have no problem with Japanese schools.

But, I want my daughter home on Saturdays! I don't even want homework for summer holidays.

I think people need to realize that kids can learn about life and the world around them by being with their parents, or playing in the park.

The crazy thing is that even with the day care it's hard to get the kids to take a holiday because the teacher will say "But tomorrow we're practicing for this or that event, so please don't be absent!"

But a lot of parents will support the move. Probably a lot of them would be overjoyed if the kids slept overnight at the schools too. Parents seem to like the idea of just relying on the school to teach their kids everything - including manners.

And from what I see, teachers here already work too hard. They need a break too.

Easy for Hashimoto to give orders. I think he should be confined to his office 6 days a week too - and no more TV appearances!!

On second thought, maybe he should just spend more time with his OWN wife and kids...

Now that's one of the best stories I've ever read here. Great work Gentarou, the staff who went along with it, but also the higher ups who just went ahead without worrying about rules, or all the other reasons why they would say no to it.

I meant of course, the only people on here who agree with 0440san...

The funniest thing is someone pointed out that 0440san sounds like a Korean hating rightwinger Japanese, and the only people commenting here who agree with him are ...

rightwinger Japanese..

Look there are many good reasons why he should announce what he (or soft bank) donated. It showed the people of NY that people on the other side of the world are thinking of them. Maybe Son wants to show that Japanese were grateful for American donations after the tsunami. and this is a way of one good deed deserves another. It shows other people what kind of company Softbank is, and it also makes other people think that maybe they can donate too.

For all the terrible things people do in this world, it's sad that others get attacked for wishing people well in their time of need and showing that it's not only sweet words.

You are saying that Japan doesn't take mental health seriously, and that there is a stigma attached to admitting to mental health issues. But, the article states that she had "been visiting a hospital regularly for treatment of mental health problems."

If I were the Obamas I'd get Michelle to run for Pres in 2016, then they could just stay in the White House. She'd probably win too. Then after that one of the daughters.

I dislike their politics, but they really are a classy photogenic family, and Michelle is a great speaker.

"People around the world cheered President Barack Obama’s re-election Wednesday and expressed hope that he will help allay global conflicts and economic woes"

Replace "re-election" with "election" and it sounds like 2008. I just hope that if in eight years things are still bad, that the Democrats will say they need 12 years to clean up Bush's mess. And then 16...

Interesting. Remember when she was Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Koizumi Administration and she had problems with the people in her dept. Maybe she just needs to realize that cabinet ministers are puppets and stop trying to get in the way of the bureaucrats.

Hasn't she watched Yes, Minister?

No doubt I'll be criticized for being inhumane, but I a convinced that one reason that these types of incidents are increasing is that it's become more and more difficult to have people with mental problems committed to an institution.

Some people just aren't ready to be living with others without supervision.

And yes, I know a person who should definitely be in hospital. Maybe nothing will happen,but if a family member were attacked it wouldn't surprise me. But, it's not easy to have people hospitalized - esp when the hospitals are full.

Wolfpack, you will no doubt get a minus score, but you just wrote the most sensible thing I've read on the net today.

Culture's funny. Ironic that a guy can be reading an explicit manga, or looking at a nude in a magazine, with music blaring through his earphones so loud you can hear it meters away, two women can be talking and laughing loudly with glee, but you feel guilty whispering into a cell phone, or swigging on a weider jelly so you don't pass out.

Surely instead of rules we could just think about whether what we are doing is bothering anyone.

Even on Shinkansen and longer distance trains food tables, I was once told that people normally wait a few stations and don't start eating from Tokyo. (That's probably older thinking though). I remember someone telling me that about the Tokaido lIne, but I can't remember the station from which many people thought it was acceptable to start eating at.