Posted in: Trump pressure to boost Japan defense spending could strain alliance See in context
Boost defence spending by all means…. But Trump thinks we will buy stuff off the shelf from the U.S. be smart and spend and develop our own skills, workforce and industry
Japan has literally been doing this for decades. They have purchased US hardware across the board, over the years, and adapted or changed it, with it's own tech.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Trump pressure to boost Japan defense spending could strain alliance See in context
If Japan was a pacifist nation true to the spirit struck home in its constitution, had China and North Korea been so antagonistic against Japan?
China must have known Japan's pacifism was fake and farce.
If is not 1945 anymore.
Article 4 of the constitution was a necessity at the time, and following the was, but times have changed, it's literally 80 years later.
People have to grow up and take the blinders off their eyes.
The people should be given the chance to decide the future path of Japan.
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Posted in: Trump pressure to boost Japan defense spending could strain alliance See in context
As I noted in another thread, the defense budget for the current fiscal year in Japan is a bit over 1.6% of the GDP.
2 ( +3 / -1 )
Posted in: Baseball star Ohtani’s ex-interpreter sentenced to nearly 5 years in sports betting case See in context
Call me.... sorry about that, "fat finger Friday"
-3 ( +2 / -5 )
Posted in: Tokyo world athletics party can make up for Olympic lock-out, says CEO See in context
This guy doesn’t have to pay taxes in Tokyo
And you know this how?
-5 ( +0 / -5 )
Posted in: Baseball star Ohtani’s ex-interpreter sentenced to nearly 5 years in sports betting case See in context
Call he jaded, yet a part of me still finds it hard to believe that Otani didnt know anything at all about his financial situation. It seems like everyone is bending backwards to make sure that Otani was in ignorant bliss about his so-called "friend" literally robbing his arse off. It's almost to the point that it makes Otani come across as a naive kid.
He had to have had his head in the clouds, or the sand, when it came to his finances.
I hope his wife is like a "typical" Japanese wife, and handles all his finances from now on!
-2 ( +9 / -11 )
Posted in: Ishiba heads to U.S. for Trump summit See in context
Looking forward to seeing what he can accomplish with Trump.
2 ( +5 / -3 )
Posted in: Men arrested over alleged prostitution for inbound tourists in Tokyo See in context
host clubs and hosts pretty much are a protected class with heavy positive press promoting their use to young girls
Again, prove it with data and not conjecture! The mainstream press hardly ever talk about any of the things you are griping about.
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Posted in: Wages in Japan drop for 3rd straight year in 2024 as inflation bites See in context
But, but, but.... there was just a recent rosy article about how "wages" have been increasing here in Japan.
You mean it's not true?
-2 ( +17 / -19 )
Posted in: Men arrested over alleged prostitution for inbound tourists in Tokyo See in context
daikaka like I wrote, be really nice for you to prove your theory, your linked article is pure conjecture and talks about nothing about the "majority" of the money going to hosts, and nothing about controlling the media.
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/371526
The information in the link has nothing to do with what you wrote. its in fact pure garbage.
The vast majority of money in Japanese prostitution goes to hosts. But they are so influential in media and entertainment that any negative press is quickly suppressed.
Even here, few people are allowed to speak any ill about hosts, who now likely make up the majority of Japanese who make over 500M a year in annual income and much of the new rich
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: Men arrested over alleged prostitution for inbound tourists in Tokyo See in context
It's life essential, because no one of us would exist without in each case any other two people having had sex together.
Not quite everyone now a days.
-2 ( +0 / -2 )
Posted in: Men arrested over alleged prostitution for inbound tourists in Tokyo See in context
After all Japan has soap land in every big cities.
None of which are illegal. They fall into a grey area. If vaginal sex is "provided" it is considered to be illegal. However it is nearly impossible to know what is going on in every shower, bathtub, or on a air mattress .
So soap lands can officially only offer anything other than vaginal sex, and they stay legal.
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Posted in: Men arrested over alleged prostitution for inbound tourists in Tokyo See in context
Vast majority of money in Japanese prostitution goes to hosts. But they are so influential in media and entertainment that any negative press is quickly suppressed.
Even here, few people are allowed to speak any ill about hosts, who now likely make up the majority of Japanese who make over 500M a year in annual income and much of the new rich
Where in the world does this come from? It would be really nice to see some facts to actually support this theory.
6 ( +9 / -3 )
Posted in: Man arrested on suspicion of road rage, delaying ambulance in Mie Prefecture See in context
I have driven an ambulance here and the number of people who refuse to give the right of way to ambulances that have their sirens on would probably surprise most people.
I hope that these folks never have to experience being the person IN the ambulance trying to get to a hospital to save their life.
This guys deserves having his license suspended at the minimum, along with paying fines and compensation for the nuisance he caused.
14 ( +14 / -0 )
Posted in: Men arrested over alleged prostitution for inbound tourists in Tokyo See in context
Prostitution is rare on the streets of Japan. 100% agree
If you want to get into semantics, yeah, maybe so. But prostitution is far from "rare" in Japan.
Nearly every major city, and not so "major" one's as well, have the proverbial red light districts, and let's not even begin to talk about "fashion-health" or "fashion-deli" services.
No need to walk the streets when your customer base let's their fingers do the walking on their smart phones!
20 ( +30 / -10 )
Posted in: Heavy snowfall forecast across wide swathe along Sea of Japan coast See in context
Please feel free to send it down here to Okinawa! People are walking around here, dressed up like Eskimos, and the high temp is around 17C, low temp around 11C.
At least with some snow and real cold, I could begin to understand.
0 ( +2 / -2 )
Posted in: Starbucks to introduce location-based pricing at some stores nationwide See in context
You hate Starbucks until you need it.
Why in the world would anyone ever "need" Starbucks? There is infinitely better coffee at any convenience store, or McDonald's.
0 ( +1 / -1 )
Posted in: Starbucks to introduce location-based pricing at some stores nationwide See in context
Starbucks is already far too expensive for the products it sells. Just another reason why I am not going to "subsidize" their existence.
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Posted in: Japan, U.S. defense chiefs agree to boost alliance in phone talks See in context
Every nation should have the right to be armed to the hilt, just not with nukes unless you have scofflaw nuclear powers near you.
Who decides who can have nukes? Those who have them? Japan could easily develop nuclear weapons, but they are considered "offensive weapons" so against the current constitution.
The Japanese written Article 9 was a mistake.
Do you own a crystal ball? Article 9 served a purpose, and with it, provided the region with stability, and no fear of a rearmed Japan.
Times have changed, and the people here still, as a majority, still believe in the validity of Article 9, but it needs tweaking.
The US as an ally to Japan can not depend upon Japan to assist it, if it is attacked by a third country. Japan could not, based upon the current constitution, assist in defending it's ally. From that point of view, in today's world, the constitution needs amending, according to some in the LDP. L
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Posted in: Japan, U.S. defense chiefs agree to boost alliance in phone talks See in context
True, Article 9 says nothing about military spending
Nice try, you wrote
Even the one-percent cap of GNP on the military is in violation of Art. 9 of the Japanese constitution.
You inferred and tried to make it sound otherwise
but it clearly says international disputes must not be settled by use of force.
Sure does, no one is stating otherwise.
Resorting to force is tantamount to military spending.
Which has nothing to do with Japan. It's a "self defense force".
So in reality, your comments are off-topic, and unrelated to the discussion.
-1 ( +1 / -2 )
Posted in: Japan, U.S. defense chiefs agree to boost alliance in phone talks See in context
Note that the bulk of it goes for the purchase of U.S.-made weapons: for example, 400-plus Tomahawk missiles and lunch pads
Again, sharing wrong information to attempt to make some point or another. The total cost is roughly $2.4 billion, and the current defense budget is around $57 billion.
In November, the U.S. approved a $2.35 billion sale of two types of Tomahawks — 200 Block IV missiles and 200 upgraded Block V versions.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15118917
Please refrain from passing along blatantly incorrect information.
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: Japan, U.S. defense chiefs agree to boost alliance in phone talks See in context
Sorry, here is the "proper" link, apologies
https://spfusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/1-percent-final.pdf
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: Japan, U.S. defense chiefs agree to boost alliance in phone talks See in context
Even the one-percent cap of GNP on the military is in violation of Art. 9 of the Japanese constitution. Much less the two-percent!
Nothing in Article 9 of the constitution states anything about percentage of defense spending.
For your reference, and everyone else's here,
CHAPTER II
RENUNCIATION OF WAR
Article 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.
https://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html
While this article should be amended, it is currently the law of the land. And there is no where in the constitution that states anything about the amount of money that shall be spent on defense spending.
The current amount is in fact nearly 1.6% of the GDP for THIS current fiscal year, that ends in March 2025.
Roughly 8.9 trillion yen ($56.7 billion).
If people are interested, here is a very informative article as to why Japan has traditionally held it's defense spending at 1% of the gdp
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://spfusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/1-percent-final.pdf
0 ( +1 / -1 )
Posted in: Crowds welcome sumo's newest grand champion in ancient ceremony See in context
There are no set criteria for promotion from the second-highest rank of ozeki but he was recommended for promotion by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council on Monday.
What is the point here? He didnt just suddenly jump from sekiwake to yokozuna. And it takes the sumo association's approval for any wrestler to be promoted, at any rank.
1 ( +5 / -4 )
Posted in: Weekly tabloid corrects story on Fuji TV official's role in TV host sex scandal See in context
Well no reason to get nasty - maybe some of us ain't as "smart" as you are...or think you are...
Not being "nasty" at all, just an observation. And the fact is "people" aren't obsessing with the topic, the media is, and it's the media, for good or bad, who choose to add fuel to the fire. When they could just as easily stop.
It's literally "click-bait" to get people to "watch" a rival get hammered.
People hold celebrities and other public figures and the media, to a higher standard here in Japan, and when they fall from grace, the media has a feeding frenzy and tears it apart.
Few celebrities ever make a come back from incidents like this, as they have broken the trust of the public, real or otherwise, and it's the media that controls it.
This time it's the media, or one part of it, that is directly connected, and now other outlets are investigating themselves, to distance their outlets from anything to do with this scandal.
0 ( +0 / -0 )
Posted in: Gov't pulls ads from Fuji TV after scandal See in context
Same move happened with many clients when Johnny scandal hits few years ago
Not even close. Advertisers pulled their support of Johnny's, not the television media.
1 ( +1 / -0 )
Posted in: Japan to halt funding for U.N. women's rights panel over call to end male-only imperial succession See in context
While the male only rule seems daft to me I recognise it is solely for the Japanese people to decide
Interesting theory, seeing as how it's the IJA, and members of the Diet that decide anything regarding the royals here.
History has also shown, far too often, that the "people's" voice is hardly, if ever, listened to as well.
Nice idea in theory though.
0 ( +6 / -6 )
Posted in: Man acquitted of 1966 murders seeks over ¥200 mil in compensation See in context
I did the math. That is 58 years in prison, do the 200 million equals 287,356 yen, which seems to be an average monthly salary. If interest was added to each month of missed salary, it should be much more than that.
Due to his advanced age, they can not make a request for the full 12,500 per day, that he would normally be entitled to.
9 ( +10 / -1 )
Posted in: Weekly tabloid corrects story on Fuji TV official's role in TV host sex scandal See in context
I still can't figure out why everyone obsesses over these...
If you have lived here over 30 years, and you still cant figure it out, seems to me you actually haven't learned much about the culture of these celebrities in Japan.
People arent "obsessing" over this, the media is, and when you figure out the "why" which really isnt that hard to understand, you will have your answer.
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Posted in: Growing Muslim population in need of burial plots in Japan See in context
I get the impression that there are quite a few folks that think the solution is just buy some land and use it for a cemetery
It isnt that simple, not even close, even though, historically speaking, Japanese themselves were buried, and not cremated.
Dont forget the Muslim requirement of needing to bury a person within 24 hours of the death. Kind of hard to do in a country that, by law, requires an autopsy in countless numbers of circumstances and at least 24 hours, by law, in Japan, have to pass before a person can be cremated or buried, which actually goes against the needs of the Muslim community.
Not to mention there are many communities that require, by law, the body be cremated
Will this "one" location service the entire Muslim community of Japan? How many different cemeteries will be, or are necessary for their needs.
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Posted in: Trump revokes security clearances for Blinken, Sullivan
How can he have a conscious getting fatter and obese while his people starve and scavenge?
Posted in: N Korean leader Kim slams U.S.-S Korea-Japan partnership and vows to boost his nuclear program
I could use a little global warming. I've been freezing all week!
Posted in: Top climate scientist declares 2-degree C climate goal 'dead'
Posted in: Trump pressure to boost Japan defense spending could strain alliance