Statistician said...

Statistician at 09:59 PM JST - 20th May

Well, I'll tell you what then. You go on paying a large shedful of extra cash to JAL and I'll find a cheaper ticket and then we will both be happy.

Posted in JAL installs self check-in machines at Narita at 09:59 PM JST - 20th May
Statistician at 04:13 PM JST - 20th May

Slash their fares? Why? Because JAL offer a grossly overpriced service that is no better than anybody elses. Believe me there is absolutely nothing wrong with the quality of Lufthansa safety, efficiency and service and it costs 30% less. American airlines I can't speak for, I don't use them much.…

Posted in JAL installs self check-in machines at Narita at 04:13 PM JST - 20th May
Statistician at 12:48 PM JST - 20th May

Did you think it would work?

So now with "self check-in" JAL have caught up with where Lufthansa and British Airways (to name but two) were two years ago. If they would just slash their fares to the same level as their competitors I might even fly with them.

Posted in JAL installs self check-in machines at Narita at 12:48 PM JST - 20th May
Statistician at 01:39 PM JST - 17th May

Sounds to me like the LDP tuning up to give yet another large shedful of taxpayers cash to some of their buddies in agribusiness.

If they had wanted to promote home food production maybe they shouldn't have encouraged so many of their other buddies in real estate and construction to…

Posted in Gov't warns low food self-sufficiency, global shortages may lead to drastic diet changes at 01:39 PM JST - 17th May
Statistician at 05:29 PM JST - 15th May

Fukuda has his faults and problems but he shows a great deal more diplomatic skill than either Koizumi or Abe.

I long ago gave up any expectation of a rational response on any issue from Ishihara but he might at least bear in mind the number of Tokyo jobs dependent…

Posted in Fukuda opts for panda diplomacy with China at 05:29 PM JST - 15th May
Statistician at 05:24 PM JST - 12th May

It is certainly true that many Japanese children are unaware of the Nazis and haven't heard of Hitler. In a recent juku class of fourth grade elementary school children my Japanese wife teaches only two out of nine had heard of either.

Many kids seem only dimly aware of post-Meiji…

Posted in 'What are Nazis?' Today's kids can't handle movie subtitles at 05:24 PM JST - 12th May
Statistician at 05:27 PM JST - 8th May

The problem in Japanese cities is not what foreign architects very occasionally get up to but the consequences of Japanese architects and consortia building condominiums and office developments at a scale designed to make maximum profits and take minimum account of the human scale and their impact on the urban…

Posted in Japan is a disposal ground -- a toilet -- and if a foreign design turns out to be poor, the foreign architect can just go back to their own country and forget about it. at 05:27 PM JST - 8th May
Statistician at 01:41 PM JST - 25th April

That will teach them to vote for the LDP. Lucky they still have some savings left in their accounts I guess...

Posted in Mobile post offices make the rounds at 01:41 PM JST - 25th April
Statistician at 03:03 PM JST - 17th April

@Westurn. I really am a professional statistician and I quite agree with you that all 'reported crime' statistics are suspect and contain serious reporting distortions (Chiba police were caught red-handed at it some time ago). But there is no doubt that the true underlying Japanese rate of offences is much…

Posted in Young women lax on security at home at 03:03 PM JST - 17th April
Statistician at 04:12 PM JST - 16th April

Actually that's not true. There are nearly fifty million households in Japan so the chances of being burgled here in any one year are under half of one percent.

Still, always better to lock the door when you go to bed at nights.

Posted in Young women lax on security at home at 04:12 PM JST - 16th April