Patto said...

Patto at 10:55 AM JST - 14th September

Then it basically becomes an onerous tax to anyone whose income is too low to tax anyway. Rampant unemployment is a likely scenario by 2011.

Posted in Keidanren calls for raising consumption tax to 10% by FY 2011 at 10:55 AM JST - 14th September
Patto at 03:19 PM JST - 7th September

No mention of whether this sake is very dry or has had its flavor "enhanced" in some way. I fear the latter. If so, no good for the kamidana, which is the only place I use sake anyway.

Posted in Sugar-free sake at 03:19 PM JST - 7th September
Patto at 03:15 PM JST - 7th September

Col. America, I presume you do not live in Japan, where the prevailing winds are northwesterly. Perhaps you can sit in your armchair and punch the button in safety and comfort, but the fallout won't be limited to just millions of innocent people in North Korea. Putin stood up to…

Posted in Cheney accuses Russia of using brute force, intimidation over Georgia at 03:15 PM JST - 7th September
Patto at 01:09 PM JST - 31st August

I read somewhere recently that a treaty established about two decades ago recognized Ossetia as independent from Georgia and allowed Russia a peace-keeping force there. So after Georgia attacks Ossetia, killing thousands of Russian peace-keepers and their families, Russia retaliates by attacking Georgia, and we are supposed to think Russia…

Posted in Russia calls for more observers in Georgia at 01:09 PM JST - 31st August
Patto at 12:49 PM JST - 31st August

Thank you for the recommendation! I'll go give it a try!

Posted in Iriomote Island: Go trekking through primeval forest — without leaving Japan at 12:49 PM JST - 31st August
Patto at 12:15 PM JST - 28th August

Amazing the little boy could survive the night on that mountain! It was a miracle it didn't rain that night. I live there and often hike on that mountain. It is not warm at night. It's over 700 meters altitude where he was. He was probably on a north slope,…

Posted in 2-year-old missing boy found on Shizuoka mountain at 12:15 PM JST - 28th August
Patto at 06:58 AM JST - 11th August

Thank you to Mr. Grimm for a thoughtful article! I think a third Yasukuni will remain for quite a while: the loyalty test. Japan has had those throughout its history, it seems a deeply important part of their culture. Loyalty tests, however, can take many different forms, so Yasukuni's relevance…

Posted in The Catholic Church and Yasukuni shrine at 06:58 AM JST - 11th August
Patto at 12:05 PM JST - 30th July

I smile at them benignly and wave as they go by.

Posted in It’s time for emperor to rev up his own sound truck at 12:05 PM JST - 30th July
Patto at 01:30 PM JST - 25th July

Despite the well publicized recent killings in Japan, I feel a lot safer here than I do in the US and somewhat safer than in Australia or Canada. Japan always had the occasional shocking crime committed by some social misfit. A person's chances of being a victim of one are…

Posted in I'm worried that Japanese society is becoming one in which people cannot feel safe. It is a very serious problem and we have to fully examine its cause and background first. at 01:30 PM JST - 25th July
Patto at 02:19 PM JST - 21st July

I visited the park in the late 1980s before it officially opened. There was only one blind then, near the pond, and I was the only visitor and in fact saw no one on the way to and from the station, aside from a few drunken horse-racing enthusiasts loitering and…

Posted in Ornithologists flock to Tokyo bird sanctuary at 02:19 PM JST - 21st July