Sensato's past comments

  • 24

    Sensato

    Hashimoto is even making Ishihara cringe — that certainly is no easy feat.

    Posted in: Ishihara advises Hashimoto to stop tweeting

  • 12

    Sensato

    I would recommend Yokohama over Tokyo as a family-friendly location for internationally-minded people (the Yamate/Ishikawa-cho/Motomachi area in particular).

    This example of making quality daycare available is just one example of how the Yokohama government goes out of its way to improve the quality of life for its residents.

    Posted in: Yokohama says it has no children on daycare center waiting list

  • -1

    Sensato

    Is there any relation between this film and the US TV series "Switched at Birth"?

    Posted in: Koreeda's switched-at-birth film moves Cannes audience

  • 14

    Sensato

    it is unfair for America to criticize only Japan...said Hashimoto.

    America, or rather State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, wasn't criticizing Japan, she was directly criticizing Hashimoto for his "outrageous" comments. No criticism of Japan there.

    Who does Hashimoto think he is to assume that criticism directed toward him equates to criticism of the whole nation of Japan? He's an embarrassment and liability to his country.

    Posted in: Defiant Hashimoto says U.S. troops abused women during occupation

  • 1

    Sensato

    Abe is evading the real issue here. A new war memorial would be an alternative to Yasukuni, not a replacement. Families (an nationalists) that prefer Yasukuni could continue to go there — no brainer.

    The purpose of creating a new war memorial would be to provide an alternative place of honor where citizens of Japan and others uncomfortable with Yasukuni's glorification of Japan's militaristic past could pay their respects and remember those sacrificed in wars. A peace-oriented alternative to Yasukuni is sorely needed, but hawkish nationalists in Japan will fight tooth and nail to block any such initiative.

    Posted in: How bereaved families would feel about such a new war memorial is a very big issue. If they don't feel the souls of their relatives are there, they won't go.

  • 4

    Sensato

    The only thing creepier than the girls and women who live the Lolita fantasy are the middle aged men who drool over them. Yuck.

    Posted in: Japanese Lolitas plan world domination

  • 1

    Sensato

    he said his remarks might have seemed inappropriate to people outside Japan with different values.

    So in other words, what he said reflects Japanese values and is therefore appropriate in Japan? Hmmm. This joker just seems to dig himself deeper with every word.

    Posted in: Hashimoto says he lacked sensitivity to U.S. perception of prostitution

  • -1

    Sensato

    Here is a link to a photo of Abe posing in fighter jet number 731: http://asia-news.doorblog.jp/archives/26942333.html

    Posted in: China, S Korea criticize Hashimoto over comfort women comments

  • 1

    Sensato

    Abe posed, thumbs up, in the aircraft [number 731] during a weekend visit to Miyagi Prefecture.

    This photo op was very obviously crafted to send a message, and a callous one at that — definitely not coincidental.

    I do wish these politicians would cut these games and stop provoking their neighbors for the sake of safety, positive relations and economic health in the region. More diplomacy, please.

    Posted in: China, S Korea criticize Hashimoto over comfort women comments

  • 7

    Sensato

    What shocks me even more than Hasimoto's callous and reckless remarks is the utter lack if outrage among the Japanese populace. It's almost as if this sort of media attention actually fuels his popularity. Twisted.

    Posted in: Gov't - but not Ishihara - backs away from Hashimoto's comfort women comments

  • 3

    Sensato

    That this woman would endure "20 to 30 minutes" of uninvited groping seems a bit far fetched to me. If I were the victim of this sort of perversion, at the very least I would exit the train at the next stop.

    My guess is that the original Japanese article in the Sankei News stemmed from concerns among law enforcement officials that this sort of per-arranged and consensual public molestation has become somewhat too common. By publicizing this sort of scenario, they are hoping to curb this sort of fantasy fulfillment.

    Posted in: Man arrested for molesting woman after being invited to do so online

  • 0

    Sensato

    "Possible danger"? Ridiculous.

    There is without a doubt a certain danger that girls providing any of these sexually-suggestive services catering to a male-only crowd will regularly become victims of a sexual offense. It's better that Ms. Miyata be more straightforward here and not downplay the risks.

    Posted in: Children should be informed at schools of the possible danger of becoming a victim of a sexual offense if they become involved in such services.

  • 2

    Sensato

    Japan’s capital flows data on Friday showed Japanese investors bought a net 309.9 billion yen of foreign bonds in the week ending May 4.

    Banks and institutional investors are buying more US Treasuries and other foreign government bonds because yields on Japanese Government Bonds have gone so low (and JGB prices high). This outflow of yen is a large factor behind the weakening yen.

    JGB yields have surged significantly lower because the BOJ, through its now much more aggressive monetary easing policy, is buying around 70% of all new Japanese Gvt Bonds issued causing a supply shortage for Japanese institutional investors who rely on JGBs as a safe haven to park their funds. This constitutes a major shift in how the financial markets function.

    Posted in: Nikkei surges past 5-year high as dollar tops 100 yen

  • -1

    Sensato

    Now that the yen has broken through the psychologically-key Y100 barrier, I would guess that it will depreciate significantly more in the days to come — it's already at 101. Also, positive sentiment on the weaker yen is fueling a nikkei rally — up by 400 points already today.

    Posted in: Nikkei surges past 5-year high as dollar tops 100 yen

  • 3

    Sensato

    Thank you Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida for issuing these level-headed and empathetic statements on the part of the Japanese government and people of Japan.

    I see this as a much-needed very constructive move toward more positive relations with Japan's neighbors, one that is also good for Japan's business community and Japan residents like me with a vested interest in this country's economic health. Also, I am sure that Japan's movers and shakers in the Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation) applaud this move. I hope that politicians here now continue to show maturity and work for constructive ties going forward.

    Abe has said he prefers to leave historical issues up to historians and avoid comment.

    That said, the goodwill created by Suga and Kishida will easily be undone if Abe or other government representatives once again resort to unproductive remarks like questioning "the meaning of the word 'aggression'" or otherwise suggest that the Cabinet "does not necessarily support" all of the 1995 apology. Also, let's hope that no other politicians decide to follow the Ishihara playbook in purposely stirring tensions in the region.

    Posted in: Japan says it will honor apologies for World War II atrocities

  • 2

    Sensato

    @darknuts

    Guy walks onto wrong property and it makes national news. It's not like he entered the house. You mean if I walk up to someone's door who I don't know, I will get arrested and be on the news? Ridiculous!

    I did a quick Google search of Japanese websites and found that this incident was reported by the Asahi Shinbun, Nihon Keizai Shinbun, NHK and other major and minor Japanese-language media outlets. The story made nationwide news, with the Nihon Keizai and others reporting the name of the sailor, his rank, and that he is based on the USS Fitzgerald now moored at Yokosuka base.

    Like @darknuts wrote, it is utterly ridiculous that a petty offense like this would make national news, and if there is "more to the story" (as some posters here speculate) then not reporting it is simply very poor journalism.

    Beyond mere absurdity in considering this worthy of nationwide coverage, I also see it as journalistic scare mongering in that it fans fears of a "growing foreign menace" among Japanese citizens. Even worse, it is blatantly racist in that the Japanese media does not report on trespassing committed by drunk Japanese nationals, even when on the property of US service men/women or other members of the international community in Japan — despite the fact that incidents of trespassing, breaking and entry, and burglary committed by Japanese nationals are quite common, as I and countless non-Japanese residents who have lived in Japan for a while can attest to first hand.

    Posted in: Drunk U.S. serviceman arrested for trespassing in private residence

  • 3

    Sensato

    As mentioned here, aggressive easing by the BOJ, among other factors, is causing the Nikkei to rise through positive sentiment toward a weakening yen (and thus more exports).

    In addition, I would guess that because the BOJ through this aggressive easing is now set to purchase around 70% of all new Japanese Government Bonds issued every month, institutional investors who previously parked money in JGBs now are channeling more of those funds in equities. This freshly-printed money, then, is fueling a stock market bubble.

    Given that this BOJ bond buying is apt to be quite prolonged, the Nikkei bubble could grow for some time before a reversal sets in. At any rate, it will be interesting to see how this unprecedented BOJ "qualitative and quantitative" easing pans out in the end.

    Posted in: Nikkei closes at highest mark in nearly 5 years

  • 5

    Sensato

    Some [parents] are too attentive, others border on neglectful.

    I very often see the Tiger Mom (and sometimes Tiger Dad) parenting in Japan vacillate between both extremes: they are excessively attentive when pressuring their offspring to forgo most healthy childhood activities in favor of an endless stream of overly-structured 'constructive' pursuits, and extremely neglectful in terms of bonding with the child and showing him/her love, warmth and empathy.

    This sort of parenting coupled with an overwhelming emphasis on competition by elementary schools on up, cram schools and parents, whereby children are ranked and pitted them against one another on the basis of everything — height, athletic ability, test scores, etc. — means that many of Japan's youth grow up without experiencing healthy relationships with others.

    Posted in: Parents creating stressed-out children

  • 1

    Sensato

    My wife heard about this via the Japanese media about 30 minutes ago. She had a conniption fit.

    Now get ready for nearly everyone in Yokohama/Japan to break out the surgical masks.

    Posted in: 17 crows, 1 pigeon found dead on Yokohama street

  • 3

    Sensato

    LOL

    @bgaudry

    That was a perfect way to describe this unintentionally humorous editorial twist by the AFP at the end of the article.

    I guess the reader is to construe the commentary to mean that Inose wouldn't have made the awkward remark if there had been more "emphasis in the educational curriculum on cultural sensitivity."

    Posted in: Tokyo governor apologizes to Muslim world for gaffe

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