taiko666 said...

taiko666 at 08:54 PM JST - 1st October

Japanese exploration and knowledge gathering = waiting for shipwrecked sailors to wash up on the shore and ask them about the outside world. It was the English shipwrecked sailor William Adams who taught the Japanese how to build ocean-going ships and how to navigate.

Posted in Mexican envoy praises 400 years of ties with Japan at 08:54 PM JST - 1st October
taiko666 at 11:01 AM JST - 1st October

smartacus: it's not what bgaudry thinks of Ishihara that's important, it's what the IOC thinks. It seems obvious that Tokyo having an obviously xenophobic leader is an impediment to Tokyo's bid.

hope Tokyo gets it! I think Japan really needs an incentive like that to open up to the…

Posted in Tension mounts, tempers fly ahead of 2016 Olympic host city vote at 11:01 AM JST - 1st October
taiko666 at 11:09 AM JST - 29th September

pawatan, noborito: I think I'm sitting on the fence between your views here. When I first came to Japan as a visitor, I regarded certain things as amusing/quaint, or interestingly old-school, whereas as a resident I now find them exasperating. I mean such things as being gawped at, giggling embarrassed…

Posted in No. of visitors to Japan fewer than year before for 13 consecutive months at 11:09 AM JST - 29th September
taiko666 at 01:54 PM JST - 23rd September

You can't be a citizen of two different countries.

While of course having different opinions is to be expected, I can't believe you of all people are getting your facts so wrong. Of course you can be a citizen of more than one country.

no one in the UK…

Posted in Should foreign residents have local voting rights? at 01:54 PM JST - 23rd September
taiko666 at 11:03 AM JST - 18th September

Motorists with no seatbelts, motorcyclists with tiny helments hanging off the back of their heads or not strapped at all, motorcyclists with dark visors smoking cigarettes, buses running red lights, cyclists on the wrong side of the road while texting on their keitais, cars blocking pedestrian crossings... and all that…

Posted in Woman, child not wearing seatbelts fall out of car at intersection at 11:03 AM JST - 18th September
taiko666 at 01:15 PM JST - 16th September

that she is now demanding he hands over his entire salary every month so she can arrange the household finances including giving HIM an allowance! Love it!

Ouch! Always best to sound out these issues before heading up the aisle...

Posted in Low-income bachelors victims of widening 'sex gap' at 01:15 PM JST - 16th September
taiko666 at 01:04 PM JST - 14th September

While I'm proud of British diversity, the absurd political correctness that has seen (for example) the introduction of Sharia Law (which is OPENLY biased against women and rabidly homophobic) into the UK is making many people, from left-wing PC droids, to right-wing nut cases, plus a huge swathe of reasoned…

Posted in UK troubled by anti-Islam rallies, counterprotests at 01:04 PM JST - 14th September
taiko666 at 03:52 PM JST - 11th September

cicada: you seem to be forgetting that the Beatles started out 50 years ago, yet are still causing this sort of excitement. Can you think of any current acts that will be doing the same in 2059?

It'd be interesting to hear this remastered stuff. Consider that their first hits…

Posted in Beatles fans rush to purchase digitally remastered CDs at 03:52 PM JST - 11th September
taiko666 at 12:15 PM JST - 9th September

This isn't an issue specific to Japan, it's global

You're never more than a couple of minutes walk away from a hostess / 'snack' bar in Japan. Where else in the world can you say the same?

A man seeking this kind of service is not confident of himself, and…

Posted in The Lucie Blackman case and the hostess industry at 12:15 PM JST - 9th September
taiko666 at 03:47 PM JST - 8th September

It's no more silly than people who can't speak/Read Japanese or Chinese getting Kanji tattoos

Someone who gets a kanji tattoo without checking its meaning (or even if it's real kanji) is probably an idiot. However, we're not talking about a few gullible individuals here, we're talking about the entire…

Posted in What do you think about the way English is used in the branding and marketing of products in Japan? at 03:47 PM JST - 8th September