Balefire said...

Balefire at 03:51 PM JST - 27th November

Yelnats, I believe that they are talking about the salaries of the *Japanese *workers on the US bases.

Posted in Cost-cutting gov't body rejects plan to increase SDF troops at 03:51 PM JST - 27th November
Balefire at 02:03 PM JST - 8th December

I don't see that excluding words like "Christmas" does anything positive to include others' beliefs, and I think it's absurd to be offended by the expressions. If one wants more recognition of one's favorite holiday, one must find a way to publicize it more. To me that seems a waste…

Posted in Do you suppport calls in some countries to replace expressions like “Christmas tree” and “merry Christmas” with “holiday tree” and “happy holiday” in an effort to include the many beliefs of a diverse population? at 02:03 PM JST - 8th December
Balefire at 03:33 PM JST - 5th December

Disillusioned,

Although it's easy to draw the conclusion that the car was on the wrong side of the road, "from the opposite direction" could just as well mean "on the same side of the road but coming toward the kids instead of from behind them".

In fact, the TV news…

Posted in Child dies, 4 others injured after being hit by car in Saitama at 03:33 PM JST - 5th December
Balefire at 01:35 PM JST - 4th December

rice powder production is to be jacked up to 500,000 tons from 10,000 tons in the year ended in March 2008

Surely that's supposed to be "2009", or even "2010"? There's a definite tense confusion of some sort here, and I don't think it's Ishiba's. He has enough other confusions…

Posted in Gov't to raise food self-sufficiency to 50%; wants people to eat more rice at 01:35 PM JST - 4th December
Balefire at 05:45 PM JST - 2nd December

It has been a while since I was in Osaka, but here in Tokyo there seem to be very few bicyclists who are aware that, with some exceptions, they are subject to the laws governing vehicles, not pedestrians. That includes signaling for turns (when's the last time you saw a…

Posted in Cyclists using phones to be fined up to Y50,000 at 05:45 PM JST - 2nd December
Balefire at 01:24 PM JST - 22nd October

Apologies for the incorrectly done italics in my previous post.

Posted in Gov't to tighten rules on possession of double-edged knives, guns at 01:24 PM JST - 22nd October
Balefire at 01:21 PM JST - 22nd October

Very few knife killings in Japan have been done with "purpose-built" knives such as daggers.

For many years, the most popular knife of choice seems to have been the paring knife, what they call a *kudamono *knife here. These are easily available at 100 yen shops, and quite adequate for…

Posted in Gov't to tighten rules on possession of double-edged knives, guns at 01:21 PM JST - 22nd October
Balefire at 01:08 PM JST - 22nd October

Indeed, some of the TV news reports said that the kid was playing around, showing off to his classmates how he could eat the whole (fist-sized) bun in one mouthful.

That turned out to be fatal horseplay and it is his fault, but the teacher is also said to have…

Posted in Boy chokes to death on bread during school lunch at 01:08 PM JST - 22nd October
Balefire at 12:20 PM JST - 22nd October

tmarie, the TV news reports were saying that, judging from the marks on the road, the police believed that the driver was zig-zagging, presumably to try to rid him/herself of the body caught in the car's undercarriage.

The video clips of some of the marks that I saw this morning…

Posted in Man dies in Osaka hit-and-run after being dragged for 3 kms at 12:20 PM JST - 22nd October
Balefire at 03:34 PM JST - 8th September

franknbeans,

"Freelance" in this case means that, unlike most announcers, MCs, anchorpeople, TV presenters, etc., who work as employees of the TV Stations or networks, she is one of the relatively few people who (usually because they become popular enough to believe that they can do so) decide to quit…

Posted in Freelance TV presenter Mari Watanabe announces marriage at 03:34 PM JST - 8th September