bearandrodent comments

Always coming up with new taxes. How about spending less or cutting costs to fund this?

I didn't get the reference to "bokeh monster". Bokeh as in ピンぼけand a cute reference to Pokemon?

I would not be putting anything that neon blue into my system.

Sadly, you can substitute the words “bus drivers” in the above title with almost any other job in Japan, and it’ll still be true.

Combini foods have an amazing array of preservatives and other chemicals. I admit these sandwiches all taste good but it’s scary what your putting into your system.

What else did you expect the government to say?

Another cut & paste cityscape coming your way like Toranomon and Kamiyacho.

So what reputable, independent 3rd party is going to monitor this 24x7 for the lifetime of this discharge? I would not believe it if it is self monitored by Tepco or one of their subsidiaries.

I'm with everyone here. All of these "useful options" that you cannot opt out of which jacks up the price of the new car, and also creates an astronomical bill when it breaks/needs to be reset.

JT - is the “Smith” being quoted in the second paragraph a typo for “Simon” or is it another person?

Moderator: Simon. That was a typo. Thanks for pointing it out.

As they say, death and taxes are the only 2 things that are certain in life. So I am guessing they will raise taxes on something else, maybe something completely unrelated to fuel, so that the government can continue to spend. I can literally count on one hand the time taxes went down, but it was either very short lived or the gap filled in by some other kind of tax.

Just imagine if you ran your household on that premise - no need to cut expenses or be frugal because you are guaranteed a steady source of income (in this case, taxes YOU pay). The only option you really have is to move to another location, but I doubt if the grass is any greener even if you move.

@Wallace - I seriously doubt that there were 10 million workers were working on the dam. That would be like 8% of the TOTAL population of Japan and assuming 50/50 gender split, 16% of ALL males.

I would say that the developers have done a pretty decent job in revitalizing areas that were already urbanized, like the Otemachi / Marunouchi area with more greenery than before (not hard to do, but still quite aesthetically pleasing). I can't say the same when they destroy neighborhoods and small businesses, like what they did in Toranomon and are currently doing in Kamiyacho. As another poster mentioned earlier, they all look the same, have the same "oshare" predictable English names, and have the same restaurants and amenities. Many of them initially have decent looking greenery, until you visit it a year later when they are choked with weeds. A very sad statement for a city that is know to have one of the smallest % of urban greenery. And if we are supposed to be in a economic slump, who the heck is going to occupy all of those new buildings.

If you've been here long enough, you will know that Tepco is going to release the water regardless of what happens. It's a matter of "when" and not "if". All of this public posturing appearing to take into consideration opposing views, etc. is all smoke and mirrors. They'll do it anyway because there really is no alternative (other than a slow underground leak into the ocean which is probably happening right now anyway), so they figure they might as well do it openly.

I remember reading that Coke had 16 or 17 bottlers across Japan up to the early 2000s. In addition to famous beverage companies, some of them were backed by sochu distillers, Ricoh (the copier manufacturer), and Kikkoman (soy sauce). Fascinating stuff. Also, the foreigners who were station in Japan were on the "fast track", many of them became senior executives back in Atlanta after their stint (more than any other overseas assignment, I heard).

I see rampant disregard of seat belt signs (and idiots walking around the cabin while the seat belt sign is lit), primarily in the US and Europe. I also sense that the cabin crew do not enforce it as much as they used to.

I believe it needs to be somehow regulated, but I have zero confidence that any government will be able to do this well. Regardless of the topic, I generally have little faith in government that they will do things on a timely basis, assign competent people, and come up with some reasonable guidelines that (at least) the majority of people could agree to.

I recall there was an airline in the South Pacific that actually use to charge passengers by their weight plus the weight of their luggage. It makes total sense.

Touchdown!

They should ban all of those trucks. They’re wasting gas, creating noise pollution, and making traffic worse.

Another unnecessary drain on the National budget.

Both my parents went through private US care homes towards the end of their lives. My dad was in the home first - the cost was upwards of $6k monthly, with bland food and barebones interaction with staff. We took our mom to a different home in the same city, similar specs, but with similar results. These two locations were supposed to be the better ones in the state.

I then compare this to my wife's parents who are now in a care home in Japan - night and day different. We went for a visit recently, and the food, the staff interaction, the variety of activities, etc. were so different. I really wish I knew about this difference in care and quality of life so my parents could have gone to a facility in Japan. The price was quite a bit lower in Japan too.

Just imagine what would have happened if Everything Everywhere didn’t win after all the hype in the media. I honestly didn’t have a doubt in my mind that they were going to win big.

I would say that a high rise condo in Tokyo is a death trap during an earthquake unless it’s very new. Even with earthquake insurance, I would bet that the insurers would go belly up if (not when) the big one hits Kanto.

Kinda funny that probably the same 2 people here are downvoting all the comments. Hmm, I wonder where they’re based?

Of course he would say this. This is Hollywood, always leave room for the potential for a sequel.

I'm with Yubaru. The kid grows up self conscious, probably bullied, and will end up changing their name when they reach majority anyway. Just to satisfy some weird desire of their parents'.

I don’t get the sense that many Japanese get annual / semi annual teeth cleaning, and many do not floss (using the toothpick does not count). I’ve had a few cab rides where I can smell the drivers evil breath even with the Covid barriers.

How to you wash it?

Cleaning the room thoroughly would be an enormous undertaking.