mrkobayashi's past comments

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  mrkobayashiMay. 11, 2013 - 05:45PM JST

  Why would someone's pension be paid AFTER they died?

  It's called "izoku nenkin" I believe.

  Posted in: Man busted for receiving dead mother's pension

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  mrkobayashiMay. 11, 2013 - 12:51PM JST

  interest on a loan is 6 - 18%

  Card loans, yes. My real estate loan for my condo is 1.8%, flat rate.

  Posted in: U.S. tells Japan to stick to currency rules as G7 meets

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  mrkobayashiMay. 09, 2013 - 06:11PM JST

  I think that is not a Commandment, but in Leviticus.

  Wow, you're probably the first Japanese person who knows the book of Leviticus.

  Posted in: Same-sex marriage gains traction around world

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  mrkobayashiMay. 09, 2013 - 09:51AM JST

  tony eww, I guess you missed the "foreign" minister part.

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

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  mrkobayashiMay. 06, 2013 - 05:44PM JST

  Recently there are a lot of bicycle parking areas that you pay for. You park your front wheel in the slot and a metal piece locks it into place. You pay at a machine by entering the number of your parking space, and you can pay by SUICA or PASMO if you like. Minami-Senju is a good example of this. On the south side there are hundreds, if not thousands of parking spaces. They usually range from 6 to 10 hours for 100 yen.

  Posted in: Rules are made to be broken

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  mrkobayashiMay. 01, 2013 - 05:28PM JST

  I know for a fact that cheap Izakayas in Ikebukuro card students. I've seen groups of college kids rummaging around in their bags for their wallets to show their IDs. One time I was drinking with a Taiwanese friend a couple years ago in Ikebukuro. Granted, he has a "baby face" and absolutely no facial hair, but he was asked for ID even though he was 29 at the time!

  Posted in: Pub owner busted for serving alcohol to sixth-grader, friends

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  mrkobayashiApr. 28, 2013 - 06:01PM JST

  Great article, thanks. I knew about half these places, but I will definitely check out Todoroki gorge.

  Posted in: 10 travel ideas slightly off the beaten track

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  mrkobayashiApr. 14, 2013 - 09:11PM JST

  Moondog, you mean dropping articles, not pronouns. In addition, "I'm watching a movie" would be present progressive. "I'm going to" is future tense.

  Posted in: Why do some native English speakers use broken or grammatically incorrect English, when trying to communicate with someone who isn't a native English speaker, but who may understand some English? Do they think that somehow broken English is easier to understand?

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  mrkobayashiApr. 13, 2013 - 08:14AM JST

  115 yen

  Posted in: What do you think the yen-dollar exchange rate should be in order to benefit the Japanese economy?

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  mrkobayashiApr. 05, 2013 - 11:29AM JST

  As a supposedly power hitter in 10 years in MLB he averaged UNDER 20 "homer runs" per year

  Yes, but in 10 years he played the equivalent of less than 8 full seasons. He averaged over 23 home runs per regular season played.

  Posted in: Japan to honor baseball greats Nagashima, Matsui

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  mrkobayashiApr. 05, 2013 - 11:19AM JST

  We should make another list of "wasei-eigo" that has no real equivalent in English, such as "barrier-free" which means a flat living environment without steps / gaps / etc. or "skin-ship" which refers to physical contact but in the sense that it promotes communication or a better relationship. Or how about a list of words that is actually English but foreigners thought were Japanese? For the longest time I didn't realize that "tora-uma" was trauma, or that "dommai" was don't mind or "oh-rai" was alright. Did you know that "e-ru" (as in to cheer for someone) comes from the word "yell?"

  Posted in: 20 words of English origin that Japanese people often mistake for real thing

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  mrkobayashiMar. 24, 2013 - 11:35AM JST

  gaijinfo, would you rather they jump to conclusions and make assumptions?

  Posted in: 19-yr-old who dismembered mother wanted to know more about dissection

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  mrkobayashiMar. 23, 2013 - 10:49AM JST

  Shinjuku gyoen, Sumida river, Aoyama cemetary ... I could go on but my favorite would have to be Chidorigafuchi.

  Posted in: Where is your favorite place to view the cherry blossoms?

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  mrkobayashiMar. 22, 2013 - 10:13AM JST

  Every country thinks it's from another country. Syphilis was called the French disease in Italy, the Italian disease in France, the Spanish disease in the Netherlands, the Polish disease in Russia, etc. At least in Japan we are not subjected to mandatory AIDS checks just because we are foreigners :

  http://www.voanews.com/content/s-korea-hit-with-discrimination-claim-over-mandatory-hiv-testing-of-foreign-teachers/1441789.html

  Posted in: Remember AIDS? It's still a threat

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  mrkobayashiMar. 22, 2013 - 09:52AM JST

  browny, what prefecture was that? I live in Tokyo and I caught the score / highlights on the 11 o'clock news.

  Posted in: Unbeaten Dominicans win World Baseball Classic

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  mrkobayashiMar. 14, 2013 - 01:18PM JST

  Expensive prices for things that should be less than half the price they're asking for.

  It's called markup, but feel free to continue shopping at uniqlo.

  Posted in: What do you think of department stores in Japan?

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  mrkobayashiMar. 06, 2013 - 12:27PM JST

  Honestly, it's a bit sad to see Korea exit in the first round. Korea and Japan had a nice rivalry going, so it would have been fun to see them go head to head. Well, congrats to Taiwan.

  Posted in: Taiwan, Netherlands into WBC second round

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  mrkobayashiMar. 05, 2013 - 11:53PM JST

  Behind freedom of speech the Japanese show their true arrogance and callousness towards other Asians nations

  Yes, because some obscure, attention-seeking rock band is the true representative of how all Japanese feel.

  Posted in: S Korean 'comfort women' sue Japanese rock band

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  mrkobayashiMar. 05, 2013 - 10:29PM JST

  The Koreans are blaming Taiwanese food for their failure to meet expectations. They need to score a bunch of runs tonight or else they'll be out of the picture.

  Posted in: Cuba, Japan reach WBC second round

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  mrkobayashiMar. 04, 2013 - 11:07PM JST

  I just checked my kasai hoken and I'll get around 15 million yen in case of fire / earthquake. That's more than a few months of living in a hotel.

  Posted in: Now is a good time to buy property in Tokyo