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The Yen should continue to strengthen to the dollar, as long as Japan runs the largest…
As a country that posed an existential threat to us, they did. They never posed an…
Posted in: Sarah Palin back at Fox News
Watching groups like Van Halen perform today is kind of like watching an overweight, 50-year-old, former…
You can only belong to the American Club and the Kobe Club for Foreigners if (a)you…
Posted in: Tokyo American Club
Copies of the Koran were most likely destroyed or damaged by the bombers. If so, why…
Posted in: Suicide bombers kill 31 in Baghdad
3
Ah_so
I would assume that you are a vegetarian because we breed animals for slaughter all the time. It would just happen to be the case that this little piggie has a human organ that can save a life. If I need a heart of a liver at some point in my life, I would be happy if an animal could provide it for me.
Posted in: Scientists seek permission for experiments with animal-human embryos
2
Ah_so
No, that is an urban myth. Santa Claus was already depicted as red and white by the time the now-famous Coca Cola images came out. He was great for their brand as he had the same colouring.
Santa Claus (as known in America and increasingly around the world) is of Dutch origin, but is different to the English "Father Christmas" (or French Pere Noel) who traditionally wore green, but who is not based on a saint.
Posted in: Which pop culture character do you think is the most recognizable on the planet?
-1
Ah_so
But bizarrely it still does, or at least the sentiment that she expresses. Few on tis site, including me, can really get our heads around this. In our view it does not matter - it is personal. But in Japan, it does, the "personal" does not exist in quite the same way.
Posted in: Wada says Mari Yaguchi should apologize over illicit affair
0
Ah_so
Hardly rewarding. You argue that it is better to be in prison rather than spending life hungry on the streets. It is, but that is hardly a "reward". Being hungry and on the streets is a life much worse than prison and we would all logically choose relative comfort and food to either starving or freezing to death.
I can resist the "rewards" of a life in prison because I have a job and a home.
Posted in: Ever wondered what Japanese prison food tastes like?
4
Ah_so
I never understand what joy people get from gambling - it just seems a dull way to fritter away perfectly good money. OK, I have had the odd flutter on a few horses, but the times I have been to roulette have left me utterly bored.
Casinos and the gambling industry do not sustain themselves on people having the occasional and infrequent gamble, but on the hard core who gamble down to their last penny or yen. Look at the people who waste their money at pachinko - it is so depressing. They look to me like their blood or very soul has been drained from them by the machines. Perhaps it has been - the gambling industry is like a giant parasite, feeding off the misery of gambling addicts.
I am acquainted with a man who as a youngster became seriously addicted to fruit machines. He got into debt and this eventually led to him robbing a bank and going to prison. A different guy, who I used to work with, was a gambling addict and it came to a head when on pay day he spent the entire monthly salary at lunch time gambling. He lost his job and could not pay the rent. These are extreme cases, but there are many more who gamble themselves to the edge of poverty each month by spending any spare cash at packinko.
Pachinko bad enough, let's not give the gambling parasite even more ways to suck the soul out of the legion of addicts.
Posted in: Implications huge for Japan if casino legislation passes
1
Ah_so
Exam hell can now continue for 3 years...
Posted in: Education ministry to change college entrance exam system
0
Ah_so
In the UK children can by cans of "shandy" which is 0.5% alcohol or less. Has a nice beer-like flavour. I would much rather drink that than drink non-alcohol beer.
Posted in: Is it safe for minors to drink non-alcohol beer?
0
Ah_so
Have been able to listen to NHK World on the internet for years and some how I have resisted the temptation every day!
What is weird is how normal radio in Japan does not stream on the internet, whereas radio from nearly all other countries in the world does. Anyone know why?
Posted in: NHK World Radio Japan available on Android mobile devices
2
Ah_so
Yes, but don't forget to put a blurry mosaic over the naughty bits!
Posted in: Japanese warming up to public showings of erotic 'shunga' prints
1
Ah_so
Putting the "prude" into "prudent"!
It is funny that the British Museum will show them but its counterpart in Japan is too prudish to display the same exhibition of Japanese art.
Posted in: Japanese warming up to public showings of erotic 'shunga' prints
3
Ah_so
1) The 2011 census showed that London was 45% "white British". There are many white non-British, mainly immigrants from other EU countries. By far the majority of the capital is white.
2) No British person refers to London as "Londonistan". It is sometimes a term used in newspapers to point to the popularity of London as a home for Muslims, particularly those with an extremist agenda.
Posted in: Anti-Islamist protests flare after British soldier butchered near London barracks
3
Ah_so
braniac - come on, which is it...will it be dark at 8:30am or will it be dark at 3pm? It cannot be both - it will be one or the other.
As you are a bit confused, it will be dark later in the morning (up to nearly 9am in winter) but stay light to nearly 7pm. In winter it will be light after 9pm, with dawn at 6am. Personally I would go for moving the clocks forward 1 hour permanently and then consider whether to have a further hour in summer.
Your comment about cows milking is hogwash, although the argument has been around for decades. Cows will be milked when they need to be milked, not according to the clock. It will be 2 hours later according to the clock, but cows cannot tell the time. You might as well argue that leap years disrupt the gestation period of pregnant women!
Posted in: Gov't considers setting clock ahead by two hours
3
Ah_so
Interesting comments. I agree entirely with Sheila Burt, both in that it was great for me as an experience (thanks, Japan!) and also how it could be improved. However, we were saying exactly the same things when I was on JET in the 1990s and things have not changed since then.
I always thought that JET brought "internationalisation" to Japan in a safe package that would leave after a couple of years, but saved Japan the trouble of having to "internationalise". Each village can have its own pet gaijin who will maybe inspire a couple of girls to study English at university, but otherwise leve things much as they are.
Posted in: Strengthening the JET Program
0
Ah_so
I was once stopped for cycling on the main road and instructed to use the pavement instead. I did till he was out of sight and then went back on the road (naughty gaijin that I am).
Posted in: Road traffic laws in Europe and the United States are simple, whereas in Japan pedestrians are always exposed to the risks of bicycles bumping into them from all directions...It is time for us to go back to the original point of the road traffic law, where bicycles and cars share the road.
0
Ah_so
Merge karate and with taekwondo or allow them both as varients of the same thing, just as lots of disciplines fall under the catergory of "athletics" at the Olympics.
Posted in: Restore wrestling, give others fair shot
1
Ah_so
Yubaru: China has the world's largest army and the 2nd biggest economy. What else are you looking for? The fact that a lot of Chinese are still poor does not change its international importance.
Posted in: China trying to strengthen its claim to Okinawa
1
Ah_so
"He can't kick with his left foot, he can't head, he can't tackle, and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he's alright"
George Best on David Beckham
Posted in: Name your best soccer team of all time. Would David Beckham be in it?
-10
Ah_so
You do not see American cars in any other country other than America in my experience. Hardly surprising considering the build quality.
Japanese tech is not selling because it is too expensive. There was also a big opportunity missed to dominate the cell phone market.
Posted in: Japan's electronics giants still bleeding
-4
Ah_so
Why is it such an issue that movies open. in Japan later than other countries? So you have to wait a couple of months, big deal - It is still the same movie
Posted in: Voiceover
1
Ah_so
Only the weight of a human adolescent. I thought that this must be a typo at first.
However, if the bear has only recently emerged from hibernation it will be at minimum weight and will spend the rest of the warm months fattening itself up for the next winter.
Posted in: Bear shot dead after entering school in Ishikawa