JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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Confrontation
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California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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Kuroki reported pregnant 2 weeks after denying relationship with Akanishi
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- Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Kanto region
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- Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
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Apsara
Something like this happened last year or the year before as well, but in that case the old guy actually killed his neighbour during a dispute over the wild cats she was feeding if I remember correctly.
I'm sure it's not unique to Japan, but some older people here seem to have some serious anger management issues sometimes, not to mention an incredibly strange sense of perspective.
Posted in: 65-year-old man charged with attempted murder of neighbor in fight over cats
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Apsara
It was a 3 on the Japanese scale in Chiyoda and Minato-ku. Didn't register as a 4 or above anywhere in Japan according to the JMA site. The three-in-a-row Niigata earthquakes a few years back were big enough that I noticed them while walking outside. Those and one that was about M5 that struck directly below Tokyo and messed up the trains for hours were far bigger than this one- small things actually fell over in our apartment during those.
Posted in: Japan hit by 6.9-magnitude earthquake
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Apsara
I'm in west Tokyo and was outside walking at the time and didn't feel it at all. My husband at work in Asakusa says he didn't either, but people seem to be commenting on it on Facebook. No biggie here obviously, but some overseas news sources are reporting things like "M6.9 earthquake strikes central Tokyo"- news definitely needs more fact checking than it seems to get these days.
Posted in: Japan hit by 6.9-magnitude earthquake
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Apsara
I did, it was on NHK's 6 pm news update as the first item mentioned. The 7 pm news was given over mostly to the North Korean shelling of the South Korean island, which is understandable.
Posted in: All 29 NZ miners dead after 2nd blast
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Apsara
Adoption is not very common here, and there are apparently all kinds of obstacles to adopting a child. Most people probably wouldn't even know it was an option unfortunately.
Posted in: Woman held for abandoning baby in toilet in Tokyo apartment block
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Apsara
Unfortunately a second massive explosion today has reduced the chances of the guys trapped there still being alive to nil. Was hoping for a miraculous rescue like they pulled off in Chile but looks like it is not to be. Sad day for NZ.
Posted in: All 29 NZ miners dead after 2nd blast
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Apsara
No they aren't. I eat plenty of brown rice, whole grain bread, bran and oatmeal, and I credit those grains along with plenty of fruit and veg with keeping me slim and healthy. Eating a lot of white bread and white rice isn't the best thing for you and will probably contribute to constipation, but saying "grains are evil" is throwing the baby out with the bathwater in a big way.
Posted in: Slimmed-down comic sings praises of tofu & natto based diet
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Apsara
What a boring bunch of people some (but thankfully not all) of you commenters are. This guy and others like him are usually harmless and it makes life interesting to have people who are a bit "different" around the place. I'd rather see this guy than another dark-suited chain-smoking salaryman any day.
Posted in: Colorful character
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Apsara
Using the back of someone's seat to stand up should be a criminal offense, especially when they catch some of my hair under their hands as they do it. I don't need to use the back of the chair in front to be able to get up, so unless they are 80 years old, why do they?
I'm not so much bothered by people who stand on travelators as bemused, since I never use them when getting off a flight- you need to get the circulation in your legs going again after a long flight, so it's far better for you to walk. If you have heavy luggage...then you should have checked it, not taken it as hand luggage.
I can understand not wanting to walk up all escalators, especially when coming out of an Oedo line station, but why do able-bodied people stop on the way down and just stand there? (same thing at airports). Same concept as normal stairs, right, and shouldn't use up too much energy. It's especially perplexing when that escalator goes down to the platform and people will stand on it till the last second...and then sprint for the train which is just about to leave.
I agree with some of the comments above- while we can expect travelling to be a bit noisy and uncomfortable, if the people who do a lot of the things mentioned would just be a little bit more considerate it doesn't have to be a living hell for everyone. It doesn't take much effort.
Posted in: 10 ways to stop being an annoying airline passenger
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Apsara
Negotiations were concluded today and The Hobbit will be filmed in NZ after all.
Posted in: NZ may lose 'Hobbit' filming over actor dispute
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Apsara
I really don't get this. I mean presumably they know what the risks are- losing their jobs, national humiliation- why can't they stop themselves from doing it? At no point does the little voice of common sense say to them "Hey, you know, this probably isn't worth it"? Just mind-boggling.
Posted in: Fukuoka cop arrested for filming up woman's skirt
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Apsara
Because that was all there was available? Why, is there a regulation bow for people dressed as someone out of Avatar?
Somebody mentioned Uno's "long legs"- those aren't long legs. Her upper body plus head is longer than her legs are.
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Apsara
Come on, they don't "eat toxic waste". They are at the top of the foodchain and their source of food is contaminated so they end up with chemicals being very concentrated in their bodies. The same thing would happen to you if you lived on a diet of tuna and salmon. The dolphins unfortunately don't have the option of a sandwich or gyudon but I don't think we can blame that on them.
Posted in: Taiji kills dolphins but frees young
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Apsara
I have to wonder if some people have entirely forgotten their childhoods- since when do parents watch 11-year-olds every waking moment? At 11 (and also much younger), we (boys and girls) were climbing huge trees, playing in the creek down the back of our house, poking beehives with sticks etc, all gasp without parental supervision. A locked gate was quite often an invitation to squeeze through the bars or climb over.
11-year-old boys (and sometimes girls) are masters of this kind of thing- unfortunately occasionally it leads to a tragic accident. I could have fallen out of one of the 80 foot trees we used to climb just as easily as this kid fell through the skylight.
Posted in: 11-year-old boy playing on roof falls to death
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Apsara
Professor Negishi has apparently lived in the US the majority of the time since the 1960s. I would be willing to bet he is an American citizen, and was made to give up his Japanese citizenship at some point like at least one of last year's winners as well.
It would be nice if this kind of thing would make the bureaucrats re-think their archaic policy of not allowing dual citizenship.
Posted in: 2 Japanese, American researchers share chemistry Nobel Prize
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Apsara
That's just ridiculous. Why does someone have to trot out the same old tired stuff any time there is a murder case reported on in JT? Don't you get tired of saying the same thing every time? This guy is going to jail, I would happily place large sums of money on it.
Posted in: Ichihashi sends letter of apology to Hawker's parents
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Apsara
And I would be willing to bet that they do.
Posted in: Japan's health care system delivers the goods
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Apsara
Funny, I don't usually see people on discussion forums advising people just to ignore their insurance payments- what I do quite often see though is things like "OMG the ward office emptied my account without warning me!!". It stands to reason that they would have a method for collecting unpaid insurance premiums since it is actually a kind of tax.
Posted in: Japan's health care system delivers the goods
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Apsara
A lot of stereotypes there. Not all pregnancies are the same. 25% of women do not suffer from morning sickness, there are lots of possible reasons for weight gain, many women don't have regular periods for various reasons (underweight, overweight, polycystic ovary syndrome), and plenty of women have emotional swings without being pregnant.
As for the "radiant in the face", I'm not sure where you get the idea that that's compulsory from, but I wish that was the case for every woman! I am pregnant, and "tired and drawn in the face" would describe me better currently. Yes, I know I am pregnant, but in my case it was a planned and wanted pregnancy, and I can see how people who weren't planning it might just put symptoms down to something else.
Google "I didn't know I was pregnant" (it's the name of a TV programme) to see how women can go 9 months without realising they are pregnant (and it wasn't filmed in Japan).
While I in no way condone what this girl did, all the people stridently claiming that "she/her family must have known!!" are not necessarily right. There are many well-documented cases of people not knowing they were pregnant themselves, let alone their families.
Posted in: 18-year-old schoolgirl arrested for dumping newborn infant in garbage
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Apsara
The Japanese news said her trousers (zubon) were cut, so those of you thinking it's her underpants will need to adjust that mental image. JT is using "pants" with the US meaning here.
Posted in: Man held for cutting woman's pants with scissors on train