Eric comments

The problem I find in Kyoto is commuting. The busy morning trains also have tourists and their remarkably large suitcases; there just isn't room for them, their bags, and commuters. The city buses are the same.

Driving at the weekends I need to make room for oversize tour buses in places where they really shouldn't be. They are also prone to park up and take up an entire lane when picking up and dropping off passengers causing jams. So personally I think the infrastructure is not up to it yet - in Kyoto anyway

If you are in Japan, I recommend Tokyo Crime Squad: The Lucy Blackman Case. There is much more comprehensive information than was around at the time including interviews with the investigators.

Tokyo. I find it quite heartless as a city compared to Osaka

While the takeover may not be immediately apparent, we are gradually becoming willing participants in surrendering our minds, thoughts, and decisions to AI. Just observe the ubiquitous sight of people fixated on their screens; it is evident that we have already relinquished a significant portion of our consciousness to mindless and soulless distractions. Encouraging my students to detach from their phones during class has become a recurring challenge; they seem inseparable from their devices, almost addicted. As AI continues to advance, it will inevitably be the next natural progression, and we will embrace it willingly.

It is a tragedy that Ukraine needs to use cluster munitions to break through the Russian defence lines. It appears they will be used in artillery shells. Ukraine can't break through the defence lines at he moment with traditional shells. In the short term cluster munitions will speed up the counteroffensive and save Ukrainian lives. In the long term of course there is the danger of unexploded bomblets harming civilians. It is a difficult choice. In the current situation this war is going to drag on for ever with all the ramifications it is causing in Ukraine and around the world. Bringing a quicker stop to this war will ultimately save more lives in the long run.... but at what cost? Surely there must be other alternatives?

I experienced a relatively mild case of fungal infection in my groin area last summer, and it was quite challenging to eliminate completely. Despite using anti-fungal creams, it took at least four months for the infection to completely clear up

Consistently heavy rain here in Shiga. JR trains will stop shortly to allow for repairs to the track this evening. Local schools and unis closing early

Get armed police outside those schools now

We certainly do not need any more tourists in Kyoto. It's horrible here right now. Trying to get to work on public transport, particularly the bus and JR, is nay on impossible because of tourists and their hudge collections of bags. The roads are crammed with tour buses and minivans. The other day I thought I would take a quiet drive in the country only to spend an hour stuck behind 3 microbuses who thought they'd take a narrow mountain route...

Yes, mainly becauise I have taken on two additional part-time jobs which weren't available during the pandemic this time last year.

This news a while back. We received a letter about 4 years ago saying our Subaru had one of the faulty airbargs on the passenger side. We took the car in straight away to a garage here in Japan and they took out the faulty mechanism. A replacement was fitted free of charge. The owners really should have got this sorted out.

This is not really innovative if you are outside Japan. Amyone who has taken a CELTA in the ast 30 years would have been taught to teach like this.

When I was at school disputes between boys were solved by a fight behind the bike sheds. I am in no way condoning violence but it really cleared things up. Both parties would shake hands and go on to live another day - sometimes even becoming friends. In Japan there seems to be no middle way, everything is so extreme.

Anorexia is a very serious psychiatric disorder and is the highest cause of death amongst females between 15 to 24. The causes are still not known. and there is no agreed-upon cure. Blaming social media is an easy way out - the condition appears to be far more complex. It seems to affect people who are predisposed to mental issues who get triggered by something in their environment. Catherine Pawley's excellent TedX talk at Leamington Spa is a very informative look at what it feels like to suffer from anorexia.

Naomi Osaka is surprisingly quiet about the Olympics. What don't Japanese lives matter as much as black lives? Now is the time to speak up Naomi!

A shout out to the husband and son who donated part part of their lungs, now that's love and devotion.

Tokyo is behind Osaka because they extended their SOE by a few weeks. They will soon catch up I am sure. What is worrying is that the Osaka numbers have yet to be impacted by the hanami season. People are out and about here and acting as if everything is normal. This weeks Universities go back and a lot here are face to face. I have a feeling in about two weeks this will reveal itself to be the biggest wave yet. The question is will Osaka continue with its semi-SOE when this happens?

But why not another SOE? As we have seen the SOEs have been successfull in reducing cases. The one reason Osaka is above Tokyo now is that they lifted their SOE earlier. This means Tokyo's uptick is not far behind.

It's not being trafficked, the media companies are voluntarily making facebook websites or putting Facebook links on stories. Facebook is not asking or taking their content. This is media outlets using Facebook for dissemination and then asking Facebook for money.

I think I am missing something. Are they talking about the links we get when we follow news outlets on Facebook? So for example, I follow The BBC. When a link to a story appears in my feed I have to click on the link which takes me to the page for the full article. Surely this is giving the media companies extra coverage? I know I am far more likely to visit these pages via links in my Facebook than I am to go directly to their sites. Shouldn't the news outlets be paying Facebook for bringing extra readers to their sites? Or am I missing something?

Does anyone remember the Ehime Maru incident 20 years ago when an American sub surfaced under a Japanese trawler killing several people? Seems like this could have been a lot worse. Surely there is some kind of protocol before coming to the surface, like checking there are no ships around?

They have left this very late before notifying the public.

I wonder if they are able to access phone records to find out if she was visiting any chatrooms?

Why even bother saying the numbers are down from Saturday? This is totally reliant on the numbers tested, which always goes down over the weekend. Without knowing how many were tested just saying the numbers are down is both meaningless and misleading.

The symptoms of Covid take about a week to appear. Add in the time to test and get results and I predict we are going to see some serious new peaks later this week as a result of the four day weekend we just had.

This virus is oblivious to arrogance and conceit.

Its not cyberbullying that is the problem. Its the deep seated crushingly vapid group think mentality. Its when everyone gangs up on you and there is not a voice of reason to be heard anywhere. Everyone parrots and reinforces the group think line. This is what Japan is guilty of here.

That's a lot of money...so are they indirectly admitting that things are about to get much worse?

Realistically, that could be 12 to 18 months away

Exactly!! Nothing will be happening worldwide until a vaccine and successful antiviral drug appears. Until that time international travel will need to be limited

As others have said, it can't possibly go ahead as scheduled. The pandemic is just beginning. Even if there is a drop in cases, a worldwide event like this could mean a resurgence. People's lives and well-being are at risk. Going ahead would be selfish and foolhardy.

There is no way the Olympics can go ahead as scheduled. Even if the virus calms down in Japan, opening up to visitors from all over the world will reintroduce the disease. Besides that I think we are just at the beginning and things are going to get a lot worse. There isn't any hope that this will be over by July.

I am not surprised at the appearance of untraceable clusters. It has been suggested that the incubation period for the disease may be as long as 24 days. This means that people could be infected for as long as 3 weeks and not know it. Take everyone they have come into contact with or has touched a surface they have touched, and tracking the source must be nothing short of impossible.