Yoshimi Onishi comments

Some women give chocolates to just about as many guys as they can find on Valentine's Day in the hope that they will get back more than they give a month later on White Day. And they usually do.

As another parent, I've been thinking how I would feel and what I would want to do if it had happened to my son. Would I be satisfied if those "boys" (do they still deserve to be called "boys"?) were given a sentence of, say, ten years in prison? Or even life in prison?

Great article. The author described succinctly but quite accurately the differences between the two monarchies. There are something in the article and also in some of the posts above that suggest the Japanese Imperial Family should become more like the British Royal Family. Thank you, but No! I love them both just as they are.

Dear browny1@,

You are absolutely spot-on when you said, "... The timing was impeccable. Diverting attention from the Slimy Money Scandals that have kept the Diet discussions all bottled up and the media preoccupied with images of squirming LDP ministers, to Keeping Japan Safe."

I hope the police are right about arresting those three youths. Because in this age of computers the names of those three will eventually appear on the internet soon or later. And along with the names of the three youths their families will also be recognized in their towns. From then on there will be a hell of a lot to pay for them as well, like losing their businesses, and having to move to different towns on so.

I know this is a very perverted way of thinking, but I kind of hope a scandal like this will keep happening and eventually Abe will be forced to step down as PM.

A pity his stay here is only for four days. I hope he will come and visit us again with his wife and children next time in the near future.

Only three out of the 16 members on the panel are reported to be liberal or at least not right-leaning people, and the rest are more or less revisionists if not outright revisionists. So it isn't difficult to predict what kind of advise the panel will come up with for Abe. Emperor should have a seat on the panel as well as Crown Prince.

Dear IronBeard,

You have all my sympathy for whatever it's worth. Unfortunately, it isn't too difficult to imagine what you described in your post happening to anyone here. However, when you said, "You are only entitled to 1 meeting with said lawyer," you weren't exactly accurate. In my experience you are entitled to 1 meeting with a lawyer before you are prosecuted. But after they formally prosecute you, you can have as many meetings as necessary with your lawyer. That is even if your lawyer is a government-appointed lawyer. I'm not 100% positive about this, but I think I'm right.

"......news organizations are toning down criticism of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government for fear of sparking ire and losing access to sources"

To a different extent, the same thing has been happening in Osaka, regarding Mayor Hashimoto and his plan to disband Osaka City and merge it with Osaka Prefecture.

The man had probably known all along that it was wrong to accept the donation from the company, but like a lot of politcians here, he is too thick-skinned to admit it.

"Raising awareness of the problem" is not enough, and "bolstering existing laws" without actually making a new law is not much different. "It is difficult to enact a law to define what is correct speech because it could lead to oppression." is just a poor excuse for wanting to do nothing about it. The real problem here is simply that Abe and his government doesn't care enough about Korean residents.

Dear smithinjapan@

I love your comment. You said it all for me. I'm really glad that Emperor's wisdom has been handed down to Crown Prince.

A government-appointed panel means that all the members on the panel have had to be approved by Abe. So the kind of advice the panelists are going to come up with will be similar to Abe's own ideas. Then why set up the panel? It's simply because he will be able to use it as part of his defense against criticism that his statement is likely to bring about within the country as well as from abroad.

I was a bit surprised I got quite a few negative responses for my comment. I'd like to make just one thing clear about this issue. Some of the comments suggest or say that the people who claim these islands belong to Japan are all right-wingers. This is absolutely off the mark. If you care to read just a few of my past comments and still call me a right-winger, then you will have to say that just about everyone in this country is a right-winger.

Just about everything smithinjapan says in his comment above is wrong and very prejudiced. Just take one instance, he says, "They live on it...." But no one is actually living there except some Korean troops stationed there. South Korea sent them in 1954, at a time when Japan was still in the post-war confusion.

"All those people who protest are the same ones who demand South Korea and China 'move on' when it comes to history, but when the shoe is on the other foot?"

The above comment is beyond wrong and prejudiced. It is ridiculous and even laughable.

This is really a horrible story. However, having myself seen how badly some teenagers here sometimes behave, especially when they are placed in a group of their friends, it's very sad to say this, but I can imagine how this terrible thing might have happened. I just hope the police will arrest those criminals soon.

Yubaru is quite right when he says, "his attitude in this situation was not of a leader who cares." In my opinion Abe went golfing and concerts simply because he wanted to. And when he says, "In order to adequately respond to the recent hostage situation, I found it important to take some time for myself...," he sounds like he is just trying to rationalize his actions by making up some plausible excuses.

I hope the guy will spend some serious time behind bars.

More than 2,000 people are suing the liberal Asahi newspaper to demand that it place advertisements in U.S. and European newspapers, apologising for its coverage of wartime sex slavery, saying it has stained Japan's reputation, local media said Thursday

Now who has stained Japan's reputation? And who is still staining Japan's reputation? It's certainly not the Asahi newspaper.

People here work hard for most of their lifetime and towards the end of their lives they get this. This is disgusting.

After a media report in November, we investigated the service operator, and found that about 130 elderly people out of 150 residents in condominiums were bound to their beds or locked in their rooms by care workers,” an official told AFP

I'd like to know why it's taken this long to do something about it?

"A recent advisor to your cabinet is hardly a private individual. Failure to condemn = condoning."

The above is SenseNotSocommon's comment. I couldn't agree with him/her more. I posted a similar comment regarding this, but I feel like I need to repeat it. Abe chose her as his advisor, being fully aware of her views on various social issues. So the problem is not just what this woman said or the newspaper had the gall to publish it, but Abe apparently shares or likes her views, at least in his innermost mind. Why people still let him stay as PM is beyond me

"Japan plans not to extend the pact unless South Korea sends us a request," the source who declined to be identified said.

The above sounds like Japan will not do it unless South Korea begs us on their knees. This is no way to deal with your neighbour. This government makes me feel ashamed of being a citizen of this country.

Author Ayako Sono, considered part of Abe's informal brain trust, set off a wave of online fury this week when she wrote in the conservative Sankei newspaper that South Africa's former policies of racial of separation had been good for whites, Asians and Africans

The biggest problem here is not what this woman said, but it is rather the fact that Abe had chosen her as an adviser to him, being fully aware of her background and her views on various social issues. As the saying goes, the birds of a feather.... I'm pretty sure Abe himself will keep mum about this.

How many times have there been articles about Abe talking about "forcing" companies to raise wages? He even discussed publishing a list of businesses that refused his appeals

I quite agree with the above (a part of Yubaru's comment). Abe is just trying to give the public an impression that he is doing his best to improve the lives of people. His words, regarding this matter, have never been backed up by something concrete like a parliamentay bill that could force businesses to hike wages.

I suggest that he start cutting government waste positions, government employees for the most part are a huge drag on the economy, they produce NOTHING and yet consume resources

The above is the last part of Yubaru's comment. This is ridiculous. In my opinion most government employees do a fantastic job of running this country. Yubaru isn't really logical or objective about this thing. It looks like he seems to hold a personal grudge against them.

No one is denying that the woman has some done terrible things, but justice has gone too far this time. Watching her being humilated in public with cameras rolling even before the trial started was like watching someone being tortured. It was simply gross. And to top it all, the court is giving the woman one year in prison. South Korea certainly isn't earning any browie points from most other countries.

Shinzo Abe, however, seems to be making changes to the fabric of Japan that will revitalize the economy, strengthen Japan’s role in domestic and international security and address cultural issues that cling to outdated policies and practices. This forward movement asks if Abe is making changes as drastic as the reforms made by the unifiers of Japan after the Sengoku Era – the warring period of the late 1600s

.I can see how much this author likes what Abe has been doing since he came into power.

>A positive note in Abe’s actions is questioning policy on the use of force for its military forces outside Japan. This move, like that of the unifiers, is again opening international prospects for Japan. If Japan wants to be a world leader, its actions need to reflect the confidence and direction of a country not restricted by old fears and beliefs

I'm sure Abe would love this guy and would invite him to be one of his policy advisers if he had his citizenship in this country.

The government says its aid is only for such purposes as post-disaster rescue. Let’s say trucks or helicopters were bought under such programs. The problem is it is impossible to make sure they are used only for such purposes,” said Yoichi Ishii, professor emeritus at Kanagawa University

Professor Ishi is absolutely right. Once aid (money) is given, it's all up to its receiving-end to use it for whateverway they think is necessary. This so-called foreign aid could very well end up helping its receiving-end kill innocent people abroad. Like someone says, with Abe as head of the government, it's all downhill from here.

It's very unlikely that these two young men are alive by now. I wonder what the couple are now going to do about their wedding.

>The Japanese government scored higher public approval ratings for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s handling of the hostage crisis involving two Japanese captured in Syria and killed by Islamic State militants

This is very hard to accept. What did Abe do? He only succeded in looking like a tough guy and a compassionate leader at the same time, which is totally a sham. Isn't Abe the one who helped create the crisis in the first place by his careless choice of words in his annoucement to give 200 million dollars in the region?