Yotomaya comments

All right. It's "just the flu" now, as many in this comment section have been arguing. You win, guys.

But don't people die of the flu as well? Wasn't that the point of Covid deniers from the beginning? Flu deaths really looked dramatic in the first stages of the pandemic to you. Why the sudden change in tone? Isn't it still responsible to not spread a disease like the flu and take precautions to protect yourself and others?

Oh, and it's not "just the flu". The cough is something completely different, it stays in your system way longer and can cause other health issues. This information has been out there for almost three years now and looking up any statistic (outside of Facebook, Twitter or even less moderated platforms) will show you the numbers, i.e., infections and deaths worldwide, are completely different.

But given how the comment section has decided virusrex is a part of a conspiracy and take each others confirmation as "evidence", I guess anything's up for debate now. It would be a little bit less depressing if I hadn't recently been seeing this tendency so much irl as well.

So, in the last week, Kishida has met two oligarchs, one open fascist and... Biden, to talk about "security". Security from what and for whom again?

*cult, although "club" seems fitting as well.

We are all victims of this Cult including Mr. Abe & Mr. Yamagami.

Abe was directly profiting from the club. He was as much a victim of it as Mussolini was a WW2 casualty.

Let's brace ourselves for yet another wave of COVID xenophobia, with some red scare for good measure.

As someone else pointed out, Japan has, per capita, as many, if not more infections per day as China is estimated to have even by the most pessimistic observers. Is China transparent? No. But does anyone remember how Japan dealt with its infections until the Olympics? Were there any "Japan-specific" measures anywhere?

Having said that, I don't see anything wrong with testing upon arrival, apart from it taking up extra time.

Cases are rising in many parts of the world. The fact that Japan has this many cases only now may actually be due to the fact that many people in Japan still do mask up and the anti-vaxx movement (over-represented in this comment section) isn't as strong as elsewhere.

Cumulatively, Japan has had much fewer deaths than most western countries, so things not being great now doesn't give the full picture of the pandemic.

Also, if you think the pandemic is over and everybody should just "move on", maybe you can lead by example by not reading and commenting on these articles. Others wearing masks, getting vaccinated, caring about infection numbers and, consequently, being less likely to develop severe symptoms doesn't affect you.

@Zoroto

A person with white skin (or at least a passport that suggests it) would be granted a visa much more easily and, even if they overstayed, they wouldn't be detained. I wonder what makes you (and, obviously, others here) think that a person with a fairer complexion is less likely to cause trouble.

@Finally Rich

There's a lot to unpack there.

The first half is correct. However, the second resorts to the usual, "It's the detainees fault" narrative. Yes, they can "fake" a disease to be released, but there is medical staff who can ascertain what their issues is (in my anecdotal experience, the doctors there tend to be less than helpful to the detainees). And many of them don't fake their conditions. Hunger strikes have often been used as a way to protest inhumane treatment of people often detained for years. It's literally the only way for these people's voices to be heard, and even then they keep getting blamed for their misfortune.

This year, there was an article about a detainee who took his own life. His story made the news only because his attempt led to death. Many don't leading to even closer scrutiny within the detention center. If provisional release was given based on "humanitarian" grounds, the usual response to a suicide attempt (which are shockingly common) wouldn't be to dog the detainee around everywhere, including showers and toilets, but to release them and/or offer help. The same goes for other issues that the detention center couldn't care less about. Requests to see doctors outside the facility are rarely granted and the person gets promptly detained again even if they do have a medical condition. What's more, provisional releases don't usually come with a work permit, meaning their lives remain in limbo, in some cases for decades.

In a way, the only way they may think they've "messed up" this time is that it lead to the detainee's death. Otherwise, neglect, bullying and torture are treated as standard procedure.

Calling people who had years of their lives stolen like this fakers and "playing the system" is disingenuous and cruel.

@Zoroto

What is it with your obsession with Singapore? In some countries, she'd be thrown into jail for living with a partner while unmarried. What's your point? This article is about the immigration center of Japan and a person dying under inhumane circumstances.

@Moonraker

"Safety and security" only for certain people. If you're poor or foreign, you have to suck it up.

This decision might be a move in the right direction. However, a) it shouldn't take this much effort and b) if there are no fundamental changes to the inhumane detention system, such deaths will keep happening, as they have until now.

A country with one of the worst gender equality records in the world, no protection of foreign citizens and toothless unions. These are the consequences.

This is not America. A baby born here is not automatically a Japanese citizen. There is not enough daycare and services even for citizen babies.

Surely, if there are the resources for a dramatic increase in military spending, there is money to establish more daycare centres. This should be a priority regardless of whether the mothers are born here or elsewhere. But we have a bunch of old boys in charge, so that won't happen.

Why would Japan want foreign babies?

Why not? Theres is no reason beyond bigotry and circular reasoning built on false premises ('Japan is homogeneous, therefore it will be homogeneous.') to oppose accepting with roots elsewhere as a part of the population's makeup.

Let me guess. This was decided by a committee made up of rich/well-to-do men.

Perhaps you should emigrate to China as you seem to want the CCP to control your life.

Yep, "If you don't like it, leave". This argument always works.

I don't owe the Japanese government anything, especially since I'm taxed without being able to vote.

The only "security" the US and its allies ensure is for markets to be open to US interference. Is China doing the same thing? Sure, but claiming it's a unique threat is either disingenuous or ignorant.

China is a threat to the hegemony of the US. That's it.

Everything else is nationalist fearmongering with xenophobic undertones by the right. Comparing the interference of the US and other neocolonial powers around the world, China is pretty tame. That doesn't make its domestic policy and debt traps okay though, obviously.

As a taxpayer in Japan who struggles to make ends meet, I am deeply concerned about where this kind of narrative is dragging us. We are forced to pay for completely unnecessary militarization during a period of historical inflation by people who openly worship WW2 criminals. But if a significant part of the public keeps voting for these goons, what can others do?

On the other hand, how many of you can deny the fact that LGBTs can’t produce offspring?

Sperm donation and surrogacy exist.

This, and judging one's right to happiness depending on their ability to create people is dehumanising.

What she said was vile and unless she openly support same-sex marriage and the integration of minorities, her apologies mean nothing.

There is no excuse for what he's been saying no matter how influential and good his music was in the past. His behaviour has been consistent and far from erratic. The only time he spoke up for minorities for at least the last 10 years was when he complained about things that affected him personally, such as not being accepted in the fashion industry as the genius he thinks he is. Otherwise, he's been well-known for years for treating his workers poorly to say the least and having a revolving door of people around him.

He is living proof that being a racial or other minority doesn't mean your words and actions have to favour other people who you may have shared your struggles with at some point. Anyone can be a bigot and any movement, no matter how evil, can use prominent minorities to push and normalize their cause.

Good to see he's out and able tell his story as well as spread information about the situation in Myanmar outside of its borders.

Good on University of Tokyo, but actions have to follow words, as they often don't on social issues.

The debate itself is so tiring.

There is so much evidence showing that women are disadvantaged in academia around the world. Saying that anything lower than roughly half of people in academia (and positions of power such as managerial positions, for that matter) being women is "artificial" or "unfair" is suggesting that women are less competent and shows the worldview of the person who says this. What's more, we're nowhere near that number and men are already whining about how they are at a disadvantage because only 90% of their colleagues are the same gender.

Why even do a study on someone's "psychological well-being" if you'll then fabricate the results?!

Science should be about getting closer to the truth and making people's lives better. But I guess in a culture in which things appearing to be great is valued over everything, facts can take a back seat.

Good. Now, how do we stop Japanese corporations from being among the largest investors in fossil fuels abroad?

People in detention centers are often detained for years. They don't know how long they'll be there and even if they do get out on a provisional release, they aren't allowed to work or get health insurance. It's a way to stall their lives for years.

The system that criminalizes and administrative issue, which overstaying your visa is, is the problem. If "foreigners" are dangerous (which they aren't more than natives), they should face the legal system if they do break the law, not be detained without trial and a right to dignity. A criminal at least gets a trial (although those in Japan are whole different can of worms). For many, "going back to their country" is not option for a range of reasons. Also, they shouldn't have to make that choice simple because Immigration doesn't want to issue them a piece of paper. Every so-called developed country is strikingly hypocritical when it comes to the free movement of people vs goods/profit made of those very people not allowed within its borders.

The Japanese system is not only inhumane but also a way for the country to shoot itself in the foot. If its purpose is to intimidate even those who have not have to face its harshness, then it works. However, it makes the country an even less desirable destination for people who could live here and contribute to society if they had a chance to do so.

People talk a lot about insulation being a problem, but I'm wondering, how much of a factor is earthquake safety? You can't have the same expectations (or "standards") in a country with this many earthquakes. I know there are other countries with similar problems, but insulation doesn't seem to be much of an issue, say, in Indonesia and quakes of the strength that occur in Japan once every few years are much more destructive in other parts of the world. I suspect it does have something to do with how buildings are constructed.

Anyway, the energy crisis is just another way of the ones at the top to burden of a worsening economy to those who never profit off it when it's going well anyway. No amount of "cooperation" is going to fix a profit-driven market of basic necessities.

There have been so many PM's decisions that were revoked because of outcries of the people. A cabinet minister appointed by Kishida was forced to resign a few days ago due to criticism of the people regarding his relationship with Unification Church, for instance.

True, but one minister resigning affects most people very little. Staging the Olympics or moving military bases explicitly against the will of the host cities' residents, giving tax brakes to the richest while raising taxes for regular consumers and crushing unions does.

Reshuffles and stories of politicians' personal flaws make for good news stories. They, however, have very little to do with how accountable these politicians are to their voters as opposed the corporate interests backing them. Don't most of these "scandal-hit" politicians just end up moving to a different cushy, well-paid job out of the public eye anyway?

What's more, the LDP itself never stepped down over any scandals, meaning any of these personnel changes are nothing but PR.

Democracy Index (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2021) ranks Japan at 17th, Freedom House rates the country as a free and democratic country. In both indices Japan is placed above the US, the UK and other major democracies.

True, but neither the US nor the UK have been making the news for being well-functioning democracies. Both countries and Japan, however, are still in the "Full Democracy" category, which makes me question the methodology of such a report.

All these countries keep doing progressively worse on the Free Speech Index, Japan has an abysmal record on female representation, the US's Supreme Court has basically no accountability to the vast majority of the country's population and the UK is little more than an oligarchy at this point.

Perhaps, to some, such as the commenters here as well as politicians, a democracy is synonymous with openness to free markets. If that's the case, we're using the term differently.

You cannot do that in N Korea, China, Russia, and many other countries.

Being able to criticise the government doesn't mean your voice will be heard. I'm glad I or anyone I know doesn't go to prison for calling the PM a moron, but that doesn't mean he and people like him won't retain their power to make decisions that affect us (mostly negatively) without us having any say in the matter. That's what's antithetical to democracy.

"We should only continue to rely on the power of speech to forge our democracy,

Which the "kind-hearted and caring" former PM did his best to muzzle.

If we rely on speech as a requirement for a functioning democracy(lol), having an exclusive journalist club and a "foreign media policing website" is definitely not the way to go.

It seems Noda is just trying to appease the moderate CDJP voter base without insulting LDP nationalists.

out of his deep belief war should never be repeated

Which is why we need to change the constitution, a stronger military and keep rewriting history so we can't learn from it. Oh, and worship those who didn't start a war.

The money could have been better spent on feeding the kids, seeing as we can’t give her extra food for school, especially on PE days.

No money is better spent than to honour the greatest leader our country has had since Prince Shotoku!

You want affordable (!) food for children or, for that matter, anyone else than our country's top? What are you? Anti-Japanese?!

/s

'May' is definitely the wrong word here as I've never heard of any church that size that didn't try to gain political influence.

True. There is publicly available evidence that the UC has been involved with the LDP since its foundation. Kishi, Abe's grandfather, saw them as useful allies due to their anti-communist stance.

And yeah, more generally, organised religion is about power, as is politics. A match made in hell, the real one, not the one cult leaders scare their followers.

I saw the press conference. It was harrowing but important to hear.

She said her family confiscated 2 million yen ($14,000) that she had saved by working a part-time job, adding the money has not been returned.

All the "ties" to the church are about this. Taking from the poor and giving to the rich, causing immeasurable suffering for nothing more than money in their accounts. If any of the politicians tied to the UC get a single vote, that's one vote too many.

I mean, how much were they taking before?!

From what Ogawa mentioned in the conference, pretty much everything as long as it allows basic survival to its members. I mean, Yamagami's mother sold her house and land because of them.

@Fighto!

It's difficult to draw the line between victim and offender here imo. People frequently become members at a time of hardship, loneliness, grief or any other situation in which they're looking for answers and easy to be taken advantage of by cults. As deplorable as any cult is, stigmatising and further isolating its lower ranking members might actually only make things worse.