Yoyogi59 comments

"That ecosystem has also spawned the online shopping app Temu -- while it is frequently compared to Shein, it acts as more of a discounted Amazon-like marketplace offering third-party home goods, tools and gadgets."

TEMU prices are about 10% of what established department stores offer. Delivery is max 3 days, to my door.

True, the apparel is not the quality of Victoria Secrets (they also make their products in China and Bangladesh) but who cares? 500 Yen for a sleeping gown would keep their customers, free shipping.

Regulating it, what does any government know about fashion?

Nothing will happen with this initiative. Been in Japan for 23 years, a local hire, rocket scientist, I can not see how anyone would even think of coming here. Bar adventurers , English teachers, hooked to Japanese girls.

The land of smiling and compromising people who avoid conflicts. Never participated in the wars of 20-th century.

The only nation on the planet that has no word for "NO" but they always get it their way. The only nation in South East Asia never occupied, colonized nor enslaved.

As if Thais care about democracy. A strong leader, like Thaksin, whatever he might be. He was harvesting votes, only military could stop him, not a lack of popular votes where he would lose elections.

Rural Thais (50 of 70 million nation) elect who they want but Bangkok reactionaries replace them, with unelected military who carry guns.

I would not take a NISSAN car even if given for free and all the maintenance and cost paid for 5 years.

What a stink of a company with ledaership from the typewriters era.

"At least 130,000 bank accounts to receive state benefits and linked to My Number national identification cards have been found to belong not to the cardholders but their family members"

That is nothing, most people who took their own MyNumber did not take it for their children. The reason: the picture remains forever, when a 5 years old kid is 60 still the same picture. That rule has been scrapped but early adopters are probably those 130,000 who gave their own MyNumber instead of (non-existing MyNumber) of their children.

"It could not be avoided" says the only nation in the world where mass killings routinelly happen.

@Asiaman

"Why should visitors pay less than residents? Why should JR, a private company, subsidize visitor travel?"

Because that J-Pass is for uninformed idiots anyway. No residents will go on all stops shinkansen (railpass does not apply to Nozomi) and visit places they had never heard of just because all-stops shinkasen stops there. Who in their right mind would take shinkansen from Nagoya to Mikawa Anjo(30km)?

Backpacker level of knowledge can not tell that Nozomi,Hikari and Kodama shinkansens,although look the same, have hours of difference from start to destination.

The article might have been generated by software.

Look at this nonsense: "and depending on where you’re staying and whether you’re splitting hotel costs with a traveling companion".

What splitting cost? Hotels are paid per person, not per room.

What nonsense it is. Had not a Japanese company recruited me on 20 million yen, I would not even know where Japan is. Not even if I were on 1/3 of that money would make me give a toss about Japan.

Total rubbish is that this new measure would attract anything but a laughter. Nobody would even glance on the map to see where Japan is.

People are attracted to the lands of opportunity, not to what a slew of clerks Kishida continues to represent.

From "The Onion": The only countryin the world where mass shootings happen routinelly, says "It could not be avoided".

@mammamiaToday  06:43 am JST

What about jailing all the TEPCO responsible who were at the helm of the company in 2011? That will never happen and who knows why eh!They caused so many death and suffering for their negligence!

Where did you hear of one single death or anyone dangerously exposed on and after 11.march 2011?

@Awa No Gaijin

"Okinawa has the largest birth rate in the country"

Possibly. Remove the air bases, it may drop to an average.

@cleo I did nok know that, thank you

Why is the baby on the cover picture blond, does not look like a Japanese child.

Until my daughter, an Australian citizen on PR, turned 16, we were receiving 100,000 Yen every 3 months from the city council. Never noticed that money (it went to a different bank, to a familily account), must be still stitting there, never bothered to check.

I wonder how would someone start up their engines with a promise of 80,000Yen one off.

Low birth rate - a legacy of Junichiro Koizumi.

To suck up to Americans, he established so called "flexible work force", not jobs for life.

The result, the men in such jobs, contracts and temporary, can not marry, no woman wants them.

There could be 20 million "working poor" like that in Japan.

In Australia, back in 2005, there was a 5,000 AU$ bonus for a new born. The biggest household goods retailer, Harvey Norman, noticed a big uptick in sales of plasma TV sets (then top of technology).

That is where the money went - on TVs, the whole goverment initiative was mocked as a "Plasma TV bonus".

Ridiculous!

Parents would go for extra 80,000 Yen if the baby was already on the floor but would never think of setting one for that.

And the accommodation vouchers go to Hiltons, Hyatts, Sheratons, top tier operators that people can't normally afford. 33,000Yen for family of three per day would nicely suffice.

Smaller regional operators miss out.

In late 2008, financial crisis, strong yen, I was paid more than then US Sectretary of State, Condolezza Rice.

Now, with weak yen, I am down to less than half of it. The good thing is I have no spending outside of Japan.

With extra 30Yen an hour, we can add a new wing to our house.

2 injured when Russia attacked Kiev. Western media might be right, Ukraine is winning the war against such military might:

"KYIV, Ukraine

Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital in the early hours of Sunday morning, striking at least two residential buildings, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, as elsewhere Russian troops consolidated their gains in the east.

Associated Press journalists in Kyiv saw rescue services battling flames and rescuing civilians. Klitschko said two people were hospitalized with injuries."

Has anyone of the posters been to Japan before? When I first came (and never left) in 2003. everybody was wearing masks, same as today.

"Its reports on the downing in 2014 of the Malaysian Airways plane MH17 by a rocket over an area controlled by pro-Russia ".

Then, she can tell what happened to MH370 ?

What a nonsense article.

Japan has 126 million people and the site claims 50 million matches made through it.

Of those 126 million people, probably 125 million have never heard of that site nor know anyone who has.

If a classic average car emits, say, 100 units of carbondioxide per km, in France, where 60% of power comes from nuclear powerplants, the car runs at reduced emission, by 40%.

That same car, in China, where power comes from coal fired plants, sends 120 units of carbondioxide.

That just shows how stupid and partial NZ initiative is. And look, Biden had to shoehorn USA back into Climate Change body.

Whatever will work, must come from the UN level, mandatory for all.

It is cow burp that releases methane. One cow does the same as 1 classic vehicle. NZ did some research, to mix algaes (5%) into feed and reduce methane emission by 30%. That is where science has failed, diapers are known for millennias.

Imagine that: 1 billion cows on the planet, methane reduced by 30%, that equals slashing number of cars by 330 million (out of 1.4 billion).

Where is the electricity for cars coming from?

The whole idea is ridiculous; what such a small and insignificant country will do with their clear skies? Fence them off and enjoy for themselves? Well, small country it may be, but numbers may make a difference? What when Monaco, Monte Carlo, Luxebourg, Lichenstain, Vatican, Andora...join NZ?

You can have multiple citizenship in Japan. For example, Brazillians, there is no way they can renonce their Brazilian citizenship.

Now, there is a form, when applying for Japanese citizenship, it reads:

"Here, I declare that my Japanese citizenship takes precedence over my other citizenships".

An gives 5 (five) lines to state what other citizenships one has. My daughter has 3 other citizenships.

That is probably to prevent tax and other laws from taking an effect, she would be a Japanese. In the worst case scenario, my daughter, an Australian citizen, if there is a war with Australia and she gets drafted, can't say "I can't go into war against my country".

@Zoroto "How will the passenger know? Do the airlines plan to proactively notify the passenger about this"

When booking, aircraft type will be shown as "Boeing 737 MAX 8" in flight details. Or, with only 4 characters, as 737M.