Yubaru comments

Japan traditionally spent 1% of it's GDP on defense spending over the past 4 or 5 decades. Recently, it has been gradually increasing, due to perceived needs.

Ishiba has to stand firm against outside pressure and do what HE thinks is right for Japan.

Can you refute my often-asked contention that Futenma is an illegal property which the U.S. Marines are occupying and using like illegal squatters?

You do know that beating a dead horse is against the law.

No bilateral agreement can rescind its illegality. Never at all.

What you have done, because you know, intimately know, is that when you no longer have anything

to support your theories, you resort to dragging out this debunked, years old garbage.

I'll bet you'll still complain about Futenma, even after an AEON Mall or San Ei get's built there, along with a pachinko parlor or two!

Here's to hoping that these fires get put out as soon as possible. But it is also a testament to the system here that 2,000 firefighters from around the country, can be brought to fight these fires.

There are something like 170,000 firefighters throughout Japan, not including somewhere around 700,000 volunteers.

Kudos to these first responders!

Looks like a regular 7-Eleven to me.

Dont let a little thing like facts bother you here.

There're a cabal of people in Japan who are nostalgic about Japan's past militarism. They are watching every move of the U.S. to see if Japan can inch toward that. Thus, the doubling of the defense budget and all-out efforts to make SDF a full-fledged army.

And there is a cabal of peace-nicks, running around the beach campfire, singing "kumbaya" thinking that Japan doesnt need to worry about it's defense.

You really should get off the beach and get with reality.

I hope he knows what he is getting into. From the "inside" here in Japan, corporations have not been kind, historically speaking, to foreign CEO's.

Could this be a case of looking for a fall guy to blame?

All I want to say here is that it is a stupid thing to do if we repeated the same mistake time and time again. But it seems the U.S. is instigating Japan to do just that.

No, hardly. Japan is doing what is right for the good of Japan! Japan should be standing on it's own feet and taking responsibility for it's own defense.

You seem to think that having no military whatsoever, Japanese, US or otherwise, could be a reality.

You are literally living in a world that doesnt exist, no idea of reality, at all.

As I have often told you, quit pointing fingers at others, if you dont like it, lay the blame with your own government. You can't do that now can you? It's just easier to blame others for your own failures.

This is so important. If Trump is allowed to just pick people just based on their loyalty and fealty to him, then there will be no trust and integrity left in government.

A.K.A. those who openly kiss Trump's butt, suck up to him, brown-nose, how ever anyone wants to say it, want the power that comes with a government job.

 I remember that on an early morning in 1944,

This has nothing to do with the topic at hand. But if you are attempting to cross parallel lines with your theories here, keep in mind, that incident would never have happened, if Japan hadn't started the war!

Ishiba is proving to be an adept politician, and particularly good at negotiating between the parties and coming to a consensus or at least, majority.

I highly doubt Abe or any of his cohorts could have done it!

@isabelle There will be no peace until the island of Taiwan is reincorporated into China, long separated due to Japanese imperialism and American intervention.

You really need to read up on the history of how Taiwan became what it is today. There sure wasnt any "Japanese Imperialism" at the root, nor any other part of it either!

China only gets to call itself "China" because there are more Chinese than Taiwanese.

There is an evacuation plan undergoing now -- for all islanders to evacuate to Kyushu. That means that the central government thinks war with China over Taiwan is looming, into which Yonaguni will be sure to be drawn because of its vicinity to Taiwan.

Again, warmongering, over-exaggeration!

There are evacuation plans all throughout Japan, for all matter of emergencies. Heck even a day dedicated to them as well.

Be pretty stupid to not have a plan in place, and Japan is notorious for planning "after" the fact! So they should be lauded for their efforts.

When someone says there is free booze, it doesn't mean there must be free single malt scotch involved. It doesn't take an American level education to be able to understand this.

Which in reality means absolutely nothing.

Yonaguni residents find themselves at the center of the geopolitical tension. 

Once again, an over exaggeration.

Sadly it seems that far too many people in Okinawa still cling to the idea that they should be immune from having any bases.

A poster wrote...

Free High School or Vocational Education ought to be a right. We have achieved this in the US, for example.

And I replied

Uh, no, not all high schools are free in the US, quite the opposite. If one chooses to go to a private HS, there is no money coming from the government to support your choice.

Stated nothing other than a fact

Yet this poster commented with this at the start

You didn't advance your argument at all.

Wasnt arguing anything, just debunking their theory that the US has "free HS and vocational education."

Which everyone, well just about everyone it seems, obviously knows is a fact.

When talking about "education" it helps to have one to understand what is being written.

You are right this article is about high school but for high school it's the same in my city a uniform is mandatory and its price is out of logic, much too expensive just for clothes, it's a form of tax in my opinion.

For families here it's a significant expense, people don't care about the name but its a tax.

For reasons that I am sure you wont want to hear or accept you are unfortunately wrong.

There is no requirement for your child to go to high school here, it's your choice to send them. (Put all your arguments aside for a moment and consider that statement)

Yeah the uniform is required, it's required in JHS and some ES as well, and people buy it, because in the long run it is literally cheaper, by far, to wear a uniform, than to purchase "regular" clothes. Like it or not, you will spend far more money on "regular" clothes over the course of the three years of HS than by purchasing a uniform.

Oh and just for information here, it's not just "your" city, it's actually prefecture, as the high schools here are run by the prefecture and not the local ward or city. Pretty much all the HS in Japan require uniforms, with the exception of some that are either private, or created by the prefecture for students with different needs.

The plan for free tuition at university for families with 3 kids or more exclude foreign national...

Why? University is not a requirement, for that matter neither is HS, but it is nearly always accepted that HS should be required education, yet University is not.

Why should tax payers money be used to support your children's education, when they probably have zero plans to stay here in Japan and "pay it back" through working as a valuable member of society?

No Junior High school is not free in Japan, In my town the uniform and the bicycle cost 300,000 yens and it is mandatory.

You misread the post you are responding to here. It was about high school, not junior high school, and btw, junior high school in Japan, IS "free" tuition wise, and vouchers/subsidies are given to families who send their children to private schools, up to the price of tuition.

You are talking about something totally different than what is referred to in the article, they are talking about tuition only.

No Majority anymore, thanks to recent election and inflation.

I think you misunderstand the meaning of the "coalition"

Free High School or Vocational Education ought to be a right. We have achieved this in the US, for example.

Uh, no, not all high schools are free in the US, quite the opposite. If one chooses to go to a private HS, there is no money coming from the government to support your choice.

Public HS on the other hand has been free for damn near forever, nothing special "achieved" there.

Oh and "vocational" education is post high school damn near everywhere in the US.

Want to make a better comparison, use any number of European countries, particularly in Scandinavia.

China, like it or not, is literally following in the path of Japan, times 10.

Just lowering the marriage age is not going to make a difference if costs associated with children keep increasing.

Having children will become the luxury of the rich, and when that happens, who is going to run the economic machinery of China?

 I wonder how many similar cases are happening. In any case, the whole thing is a sham.

Cases like this actually happen quite a bit, not just in hospitals like this, but others, many times, long term stay facilities, usually those that have elderly patients.

The psychiatrists don't have a clue what they are doing. All they can do is administer drugs.

Here, I can share, for a FACT, that you are wrong! While there are bad doctors all over the world, it does not mean that all are "clueless", in fact the overwhelming majority know exactly what they are doing.

If you have problems, you should get a 2nd opinion. If they dont tell you what you want to hear, then odds are they are doing their job right.

Sadly this happens more than often than not and it's nearly always swept under the rug.

Not mentioned here is just how it was reported to the authorities, which would be nice to know too!

In a statement, the hospital said, "We were unsure of our decision and hesitated to report it. We can't help but think that we covered it up."

Meanwhile, the social medical corporation, which runs the hospital, said: "The male staff member resigned, and we felt that he had been punished sufficiently.”

Making excuses and giving the guy an out. Should have been reported to the police and charges filed!

I attached a picture just below this line! Cheers!

Right, further proof that she is more interested in pushing her agenda for fortune and fame.

I would love to know the 10% that think he is good for businesses in Japan.

As I have noted before, if she really wants people in Japan to actually see the movie, stream it on You Tube or some other media outlet, and do it for free!

Seems to me she is more interested in making money than actually getting her message out!

 Consumption is weak as pay gains have trailed inflation for the better part of three years,"

This is misleading. For nearly 2 decades, at least, Japan was in a DEflationary economy, and wages were stuck in reverse, and unable to break even, while taxes went up. A large part due to the Abe-nomics that have proved to be an abject failure! (Along with LDP policies!)

Oh and dont forget, the "wages" that are referred to here are those fortunate one's to be considered "seishain", and does not include the millions living pay check to pay check