cleo said...

cleo at 10:57 AM JST - 3rd July

Sarge - Sadly, cleo's child-bearing days are over. Now at the stage of looking forward to grandkids and hoping my kids don't decide to 'sacrifice' for the sake of their careers.

Posted in Japan needs to raise birthrate to remain economic power, say experts at 10:57 AM JST - 3rd July
cleo at 09:59 AM JST - 3rd July

Sarge - there are lots of people doing that in Japan already - isn't that the problem?

:-)

Posted in Japan needs to raise birthrate to remain economic power, say experts at 09:59 AM JST - 3rd July
cleo at 09:24 AM JST - 3rd July

You don't pay someone to raise your child, you pay someone to look after them during the day until they're old enough to go to school

I don't see the difference.

one parent should be forced to stay home to raise their kid

Forced? No. Being stuck at home all…

Posted in Japan needs to raise birthrate to remain economic power, say experts at 09:24 AM JST - 3rd July
cleo at 06:29 PM JST - 2nd July

Boudicca didn't.

Posted in Future jungle warfare training sessions eyed in Okinawa at 06:29 PM JST - 2nd July
cleo at 05:55 PM JST - 2nd July

The real costs are the ongoing ones that only start on departure from hospital

Nah, you get a bit of a breathing space until Education rears its ugly head. Elementary school isn't too bad, junior high starts to bite, senior high grips you in a vice and uni hits you…

Posted in Japan needs to raise birthrate to remain economic power, say experts at 05:55 PM JST - 2nd July
cleo at 05:50 PM JST - 2nd July

I hope SushiSoba-chan and Takuma7Junior-kun are both doing well now.

Would you both agree that, given the choice (which of course you don't get) it's better to just pay up the 220,000 and not need the services of the NICU, and all the worry and sleepless nights that go with…

Posted in Japan needs to raise birthrate to remain economic power, say experts at 05:50 PM JST - 2nd July
cleo at 03:46 PM JST - 2nd July

Zen Builder -

Ironically, a birth with complications can be cheaper than a straightforward birth. Once there are complications to deal with, the health insurance kicks in.

Having said that I don't know where the figure of one million comes from, either. It's a long time since I was in…

Posted in Japan needs to raise birthrate to remain economic power, say experts at 03:46 PM JST - 2nd July
cleo at 12:31 PM JST - 2nd July

In Japan, "Melon" means watermelon, "SU I KA" means melon. Often confuse.

You illustrate your point well - by being confused. It's the other way round.

Posted in Square melons at 12:31 PM JST - 2nd July
cleo at 09:48 AM JST - 2nd July

Yawn.

Yet another 'The Japanese are out to get the foreigners' fluff piece.

Quite a leap from 'The exotic lizards are killing the native butterflies and harming the natural environment' to 'That means anything remotely foreign in the Ogasawaras must go'. Would Mr Lloyd like to point to anything at…

Posted in Getting rid of 'foreign' influences in Ogasawaras at 09:48 AM JST - 2nd July
cleo at 12:02 AM JST - 2nd July

As they pointed out on the evening news, it's extremely worrying that a person can sneak up to a train and daub paint on it without being seen, especially at a time when security is supposed to be increased because of the summit. If a person can sneak up and…

Posted in English graffiti 'Hack' grounds bullet train at 12:02 AM JST - 2nd July