frontandcentre said...

frontandcentre at 02:42 PM JST - 25th June

Wilbur:

protesting against something thats already happened and is irreversible is kinda pointless don't you think ?

Nope - it's often difficult to protest about somebody being shot dead by government troops before it happens..

Posted in 50,000 signatures presented over Japanese journalist slain in Myanmar at 02:42 PM JST - 25th June
frontandcentre at 02:40 PM JST - 25th June

Gavinova - are they upset about Waiwai, or upset about it getting pulled?

Posted in Mainichi's English site shuts down one column criticized for being 'too vulgar' at 02:40 PM JST - 25th June
frontandcentre at 02:36 PM JST - 25th June

Yep, I do have a feeling that no distinction might be made between 300 complaints from the same person and 300 from different parties, especially if an external 'reason' was required to shut WW down.

Waiwai was entertainment, trivia and salacious comment on some Japanese news stories - it was…

Posted in Mainichi's English site shuts down one column criticized for being 'too vulgar' at 02:36 PM JST - 25th June
frontandcentre at 02:23 PM JST - 25th June

Northlondon:

Lived in London all my life and been in Tokyo for 8 1/2 years now

Eh?? Gotta wonder about that statement... I do agree with the main point you are making though. London's a much more attractive city than Tokyo (largely because of the parks and the fact that…

Posted in Fukuoka voted best city in world for shopping at 02:23 PM JST - 25th June
frontandcentre at 01:12 PM JST - 25th June

P.S. - I love the way the Mainichi describes pulling the column altogether and punishing the people who edited it, as "a fundamental re-think". If there were factual errors in the translation of a particular story - or the original story itself was incorrect - then why not just name…

Posted in What do you think of the Mainichi's decision to cease publishing its WaiWai tabloid tidbits section on its English online site following complaints that it portrays Japanese society in a negative light to the world? at 01:12 PM JST - 25th June
frontandcentre at 01:05 PM JST - 25th June

If anyone hasn't, I strongly advise reading Mainichi's spineless, self-contradictory explanation of its decision on the website. Instead of taking a balanced position on the merits and criticisms of the Waiwai column, it surrenders completely to those unnamed parties that complained about certain stories which it refuses to identify.

If…

Posted in What do you think of the Mainichi's decision to cease publishing its WaiWai tabloid tidbits section on its English online site following complaints that it portrays Japanese society in a negative light to the world? at 01:05 PM JST - 25th June
frontandcentre at 04:43 PM JST - 23rd June

I only discovered Salvatore recently - surprising given the number of shops he has - but was very impressed by the pizza. He sounds like a decent man from the interview, not taking himself too seriously, which is always a good point

Posted in The pizza man at 04:43 PM JST - 23rd June
frontandcentre at 05:50 PM JST - 20th June

flammenwerfer - I disagree, his predecessors in the job were right not to rush to agree to the ultimate sanction. Why not have the death penalty but veto it in advance of abolition? He COULD do that, but instead he supposedly "agonizes" and then hankos their death warrants. His choice…

Posted in Justice chief protests being called 'specter of death' in newspaper column at 05:50 PM JST - 20th June
frontandcentre at 04:49 PM JST - 20th June

Surely hanging the executed people, which he gleefully approved, was a greater insult than any satirical newspaper column culd muster. It's a scandal that someone with the ultimate veto over life and death should disply such screwed up logic.

This guy should've lost his job the day that he would…

Posted in Justice chief protests being called 'specter of death' in newspaper column at 04:49 PM JST - 20th June
frontandcentre at 04:03 PM JST - 20th June

You're right - the Palace Hotel is going to be rebuilt. I think it has the best location of any hotel in Tokyo, and I hope the replacement isn't yet ANOTHER Mid-Town type 30 floors of offices with a hotel perched on top. It would be much better if they…

Posted in Fire hits Palace Hotel, forcing 260 guests to evacuate after midnight at 04:03 PM JST - 20th June