dreamdrifter said...

dreamdrifter at 08:58 PM JST - 22nd December

Soldave - quite the opposite in my opinion - Japanese media tend to make such a fuss about crime these days that it scaremongers people into thinking Japan is more dangerous than it actually is. If you see no updates in the news it'll most likely be because there won't…

Posted in Body without head, limbs found in Okinawa field at 08:58 PM JST - 22nd December
dreamdrifter at 10:46 PM JST - 13th December

The Japanese coastguard has no jurisdiction over international waters. If the SDF or some renamed arm of it appears in the Antarctic waters effectively the Japanese government is staking a claim on what it doesn't own, and doing so using military means. In most other parts of the world, in…

Posted in Japan to arrest anti-whaling activists, newspaper reports at 10:46 PM JST - 13th December
dreamdrifter at 09:29 PM JST - 12th December

Bit of a misleading headline here. Japan is only saying that anyone forcibly boarding their vessel on the high seas will be detained, which I think is reasonable enough and of course perfectly legal (it could even be argued that the captain would be negligent in his duty to do…

Posted in Japan to arrest anti-whaling activists, newspaper reports at 09:29 PM JST - 12th December
dreamdrifter at 06:50 AM JST - 19th November

Nice escape from debate, Mr Shionoya.

1 - A politician resorting to "common sense" as an argument usually means he/she has run out of real arguments. It's just a means of running away from an in-depth discussion about the moral, legal, practical implications.

2 - And seeing that there is…

Posted in Standing up when singing 'Kimigayo' is 'common sense,' minister says at 06:50 AM JST - 19th November
dreamdrifter at 09:44 PM JST - 14th November

Going back to what cleo and davidattokyo were initially taking about, I do understand what davidattokyo is saying. We can't "leave the ecosystem alone" because we have already interfered with it. With the general depletion of ocean resources worldwide, I can see why a blanket protection on just one section…

Posted in Greenpeace shifting focus to dialogue in anti-whaling campaign at 09:44 PM JST - 14th November
dreamdrifter at 08:55 AM JST - 14th November

@Ninjazilla: Indeed. I would love to sit down with those Sea Shepherd people and ask them to explain the sequence of events, step by step, with which they actually believe their actions would lead to Japan stopping whaling.

Posted in Greenpeace shifting focus to dialogue in anti-whaling campaign at 08:55 AM JST - 14th November
dreamdrifter at 08:47 AM JST - 14th November

Good on Greenpeace. Looks like they've finally realised that the only way they have a change of stopping Japanese whaling is to get JAPANESE voters on their side. No point in "campaigning" when the target audience has been the general public in anti-whaling countries; although their confrontational stance may have…

Posted in Greenpeace shifting focus to dialogue in anti-whaling campaign at 08:47 AM JST - 14th November
dreamdrifter at 08:54 PM JST - 11th November

Sabiwabi, I don't for a minute doubt that an open mind is important, but have you actually read his essay? I'll tell you what's shocking - not his controversial historical view but his utter lack of intellect. I don't expect him to write like an academic, but come on, just…

Posted in Fired ASDF chief calls for revision of Constitution; defends essay on war at 08:54 PM JST - 11th November
dreamdrifter at 11:47 PM JST - 6th October

According to spudman's link most of the bears on the list are classified as "vulnerable" or "least concern", and the only species classified as "endangered" is the giant panda.

Posted in Two people attacked by bear in Niigata at 11:47 PM JST - 6th October
dreamdrifter at 09:48 AM JST - 6th October

An old lady who I know - a stauch pacifist - sometimes visits Yasukuni for her brother who died aboard a Navy ship, and to genuinely pray for peace from the bottom of her heart. Knowing her, she most likely reviles the fact that the shrine considers Tojo et al…

Posted in Saitama provides schools with gov't document allowing Yasukuni trips at 09:48 AM JST - 6th October