Zaphod comments

Wow, I never heard of that story. That must have a truly crazy experience.

travelbangaijin

Don't remember all this tough guy talk regarding Paul Logan who made more vile content while in Japan.

Wrong. There was tough talk about that one too, but Somali is a whole level higher on the nuisance scale.

They really went easy on this pest. I had hoped they would give him some more time in state.sponsored accomodation to cool off before deporting him. The Japanese justice system is strange... extremely lenient judgements are mixed with extremely harsh ones.

Only 20 years?

Yubaru

Huh? Guess you dont read the papers or watch the news.

To the contrary, you might want to look deepr than sensationalist news headlines.

Fighto!

Communist China has been licking their lips, eyeing off the Okinawan Islands for decades, as they expand their territory.

Nonsense. The CCP has no interest in a bloody military conflict. Their way is slow and steady trickery and economic pressure. China is just a pretext to keep the US military complex here.

The US war machine gets its way.

TaiwanIsNotChina

If Ukraine falls, Xi will have more confidence in his military and Russia's support for an invasion of Taiwan.

What in the world does the earthquake have to do with either Ukrain, Russia, Xi, or Taiwan???

Garypen

Don't you mean 90 degrees or fully perpendicular to the platform edge? 45 might help a little. But, 90 will give you the most stability against being pushed onto the track.

Except you cant look behind you. Seems to me 45 degrees gives you more situational awareness.

The busiest Yamanote line stations like Shinjuku and Shinagawa still do not have barriers. I wonder why they started putting them up at the less busy stations.

Paul Spira

Countries other than the US have disasters too and they do not have a problem with looting.

Maybe you also see the world as US vs Japan? There are plenty of counties which are as violent and crime-ridden as the US. The world is bigger than this simple dualism.

containing six high-quality mikan (mandarins) worth 3,000 yen

I have never heard of one mikan costing 500 yen; what are these things?

And apart from that, 6 mikan are not much of a theft, could it not be he was just hungry?

I find the leaders sister more scary than the fat boy himself.

onigiri

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its territory, a claim Taiwan's government rejects.

which countries in the world recognize that Taiwan is part of china territory? or maybe which agreements any countries ever signed and said that Taiwan belongs to china? under the circumstances and logic of commies, i hereby declare that Moon is my territory.

Err... basicall all countries, except a few in the third world? I am no friend of the CCP, but please note that the US in the 70s transferred diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China, endorsing the one-China policy.

All Western countries have followed suit. If you doubt that, try to find a Taiwanese embassy in your neighbourhood.

The desire of the West, lead by the US, to profit from cheap mainland China production to simultaneously claim that Taiwan is a "country" is a amazing example of hypocrisy. Recognize Taiwan first, before "defending" it!

nandakandamanda

The article does not cover nearly all the things that went wrong this time at Shika and Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPPs. Water slopping out of spent fuel rod pools is one thing, sure.

What "other things?" Pleases share your knowledge. My impression is that the biased writer would 100% have listed them all, if there were other issues.

After the Jan. 1 quake TEPCO reported water had spilled from nuclear fuel pools at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant - the world's largest - but said radiation levels were normal.

So in other words the plant did just fine. Start them already, especially this one which is one of the most modern designs. The mental gymnastics of the writer to concoct a problem where there is none are amazing.

wolfshineJan. 4  

I dunno, Japan is starting to give off some late stage civilization vibes here.

Today on the Toyoko line again, somebody was spotted with a knife, leading to service being shut down.

It's been a long time coming, but I think within a decade or two, Tokyo will not look much different than New York or London as far as crime and violence is concerned.

That the service was shut down should show you how much different the situation here is. In the Western cities you mention another knife attack would not even make a make ripple...

All that praise for their tough stances on immigration, their politeness, and work ethic will not stop the inevitable. The riches accumulated in the 60s-80s will eventually dry up, and when people get desperate, that's when violent crime surges. Better just to accept it now than deny it and live in a fantasyland.

The idea that crime is simply directly related to wealth is an often-heard excuse, but it does not match reality. Some of the poorest areas in the world are also among the safest. Ignoring all social factors and simply relating everything to money is right out of fantasyland.

The two sides had different understandings of their permission to use the runway.

Scary. That situation should never happen on any airport. I hope they fix the communication problem asap.

Seesaw7

She must have so much hatred about men.

Nobody here has any idea what is going on in her head, and how the situation actually looked like.

China plans to keep ships near Senkakus

Of course they do. Where is the surprise? It is like reporting "Kim plans to keep firing missiles" or "Biden plans to continue unlimited migration".

I find the "joke" excuse more offending than the garbage comment. There was no joke there. He should should have just said "sorry I was rude". Instead he goes to some stupid "joke" excuse, similar to the Japanese stereotypical "I was drunk"...

Whereeven Blinken goes, expect another diplomatic blunder. This is the incompentent US regime ever.

That is just horrible. Imagine being murdered by your own child... incomprehensible.

Sven Asai

It's forbidden here to own, carry or use effective defense weapons or methods

What is a "defensive method" and how do you own and carry one? I genuinely curious.

In the event I think it is a good guess that the attackers were also Chinese, and a money dispute was involved.

I am sure it is found on an ancient Chinese map.

kintsugi

The majority of world protestors do not support the horrors of the Hamas attacks but are against the mass bombing of civilians in Gaza.

Please show a link an interview with any of them condemning Hamas terrorism. They immediately change the topic to Israel.

In the article photo, I see no Hamas flags.

Hamas runs Gaza and would run the West Bank if unified.

kintsugi

The protestors are supporting the Palestinian Arabs not Hamas.

Nope, you will find a single one among that crowd who speaks against Hamas. The difference is purely in your mind.

This skit on youtube pretty much nails the Western crowd now supporting Hamas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbfccVBo9tE

Mr Kipling

It isn't anti-semitism. It's anti Israel and anti-Zionism. Big difference, one is bad but the other is the right way of behaving.

That is the typical excuse, but it does not fly. There is no country called "Zion", it is Israel, and it was specifically created by the UN as a state where Jews would be safe from the persecution in all the Arab muslim countries surrounding it. And the stated goal of all islamist countries is to delete Israel. "Zionism" is simply the political statement that Israel as a Jewish state has a right to exist. Trying to create an artificial difference between anti-semitism and anti-zionism is just sophistry.

Gene Hennigh

Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about anti-Semitism in Germany. Nothing could possibly happen there. 'Sall good.

Thanks to mass immigration from the middle East, all of Western European countries are in the same pickle, but in Germany of course this is particularly delicate. I hope it is a wake-up call to the woke politicians who thought they could import the Middle East into Europe without importing the problems of the Middle East.