justasking comments

My number is so dangerous for both Japanese and foreigners in this country. How? If some computer savvy individual gets a hold of the My Number they can do a lot of financial damage to an individual opening up credit cards and the list goes on and is this country you are guilty until proven innocent and one will have to spend hundreds of thousands of yen to clear their name and that is out of pocket with no refund when proven innocent.

When I traveled to Australia years ago, I heard a comment by white Australians saying the worst thing the government did was allow "Aboriginals" to drink and this individual continued on they could not hold their liquor due to their DNA. LOL, I thought that goes for any man or woman, no matter their color or race.

I am all for it, because there is nothing worse than breathing in someone else's secondhand smoke. For Markx, yes, you are right the medical system, the cancer is the number one killer and usually but not always of course caused by cigarettes. Blessedly, since I have moved here the number of cigarette smoking has gone down and I am grateful for that not having to breathe in someone's smoke blowing into my face.

Granted the whacky tobaccy, I don't care for that smell either and that should have the same warnings and taxes put on it.

There are multiple reasons for childbirth is down and the biggest being the cost and the HUGE stress once children enter grade school. The cost of jukus, private schools and the list goes on is such a financial burden and again stress. Following that, the divorce rate is so high in this country, and when the man usually takes off he leaves all the financial burden on the wife and her family and or these days the single mother just struggles alone and where the father gets off with no penalty. Women no longer suffer in silence and or embarrassment about their hardships and this is making Japanese women not wishing to marry because there is no safety net if the man decides to leave her and the children.

Until the country solves the latter, like the west taking away driver licenses, passports and the list goes on for those deadbeat fathers who don't pay up for their children the numbers will continue to decline.

His erratical and irrational behavior is what caused his divorce.

All my private information will be given each time I visit the hospital and or a doctor????? For real, anyone who is computer savvy can connect to a government office and find out whatever they fancy on me and could use that information to obtain fraudulently credit cards and or do any other illegal activity in my name. It would be at my cost to hire an attorney to clear my name and that from reading newspapers is not an easy task because you are guilty until proven innocent.

Let's take care of the children who are being raised by single mothers who get very little or nothing from fathers and these children are many times being raised in poverty.

With the yen being so weak it is still a bargain if you are planning to travel to several places around Japan. My cousin and his family came here for nearly a month, and they never got the train pass and went to Kyoto and shopped until they dropped, and they said for a family of 4 they spent under 10 thousand dollars this included their accommodations and food.

Had they travel anywhere else in N. America based on where they stayed, what they ate and bought it would had been double and they have been here twice now and are planning another trip back here.

I have my child over in Guam and got word that my child is safe. Many friends a week later are struggling to get water it over 2 hours just to get a couple bottles of water, and 3-hour line up yesterday to get gas and there is still no electricity for much of the country. I have been trying relentlessly to get through by phone to a friend's hotel, the phone rings but no answer and other friends, too, but nothing. They expect it is going to take over a month to get life back to a little normalcy.

Flute, you are correct about the name Mawar, it does mean rose in Indonesian and this came directly from an Indonesian person I work with.

My child is going to school in Guam, and their place of residency had typhoon shutters and made it through okay. However, power and internet service could take weeks to get back up and running because 90 percent of the island was affected, and the Guam government has to prioritize.

Point being made, this typhoon is a wicked one, and Okinawans really need to brace themselves for the very worse. The winds were so strong in Guam that it picked up a 4 by 4 truck and it was tossed over 2 or 3 times before it came to a stop.

Homeless, he wanted to be caught and so he would have a roof over his head, food in his belly and healthcare to take care of elderly body.

He surely will be able to get a few good night sleeps in with no bombings and or alarms going off and that will be good for his health for sure to return rested.

When you see ads hiring for nursing care assistants and the starting wage is 1,000 in most cases you are not going to get the best and most professional individuals for aging seniors.

As a survivor of domestic abuse many years ago now and the attitude of the police at that time I hope these laws will be enacted. To this very day, I remember what my Japanese friend translated to me word for word by the officer in front of my ex "you cannot abuse your wife she is a foreigner."

They need to protect the single mothers in this country, too, make fathers who take off and leave the mother holding the financial bag while they carry on building a new life and more children.

I felt a small shake last night while sitting in bed in my Tokyo 11th floor condo.

Provide public schools for mixed race children this population demographic is large in Japan and the bullying that goes on is horrendous. There are so many parents over here married to Japanese nationals who cannot afford the international schools and that forces many parents to move back to their home countries along with their Japanese spouse. My child and I are separated by an ocean right now, because of the bullying by teachers and fellow classmates and my child was suffering greatly. Poor grades year after year, and now my child is acing school only A's and B's and I wanted my child to grow up here to learn their Japanese culture but instead they are losing their Japanese speaking ability, we are having to live separately so I can support their life financially and the whole situation is miserable. Having a mixed-race child in this country can be a miserable one and my story is not an unusual one, unfortunately.

Wait a minute, how many Royal families showed up for him and his big day???? But he does not reciprocate because customs do not permit, well I wonder how many Royal dignitaries knew this before coming and would have they changed their minds coming knowing that the Emperor does not bestow his presence for their big days.

Coconut vitamins is also known to help but not end all.

Every New Year's an American friend and his Japanese friends go out to feed the homeless at one of the big parks in Tokyo and I can assure you this number is so much higher. Does the government feel if they under report this number it can relieve them of shame? In addition, if the number is so low why is the government not finding housing for these individuals and bringing the number down to zero? Sincerely, it would not break the government's piggybank by locating housing for these individuals and providing these individuals with a life of safety and security.

Canada the nation of hockey must be rejoicing in bringing home the Stanley Cup. Congratulations Canada.

This means as usual nothing has changed, just the same old, a rotating revolving door of one man out and another man in and who is caring on the same old policies. The yen is already spiking back upwards and that is going to push food and other items on the upward trend.

The Japanese Government is trying to bring in more tourists, ahh, just the way to do it or not raise the prices on the rail system by 60 percent. Good for us who live here, less tourists means less crowds and with COVID still out there, hopefully keeps down the number of cases.

There numbers will continue to be down for a long time to come because the COVID broke their economy. When in lockdown, factories shutdown, and many companies quickly pulled a lot of their businesses out and set up shops in other countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and so on. The great thing, no one Asian country got loaded down, it kind of spread out over different areas and has broken China's grip on being dominant powerhouse. Even Apple wants to set up a factory in India which would be great to see meaning less money being pumped into China and the Chinese Government.

I believe her, after being here for so many years have heard many stories from women born in the same era enduring physical abuse and suffered in silence, they were brought up to endure.

A foreign friend, her Japanese husband abused her and when she called the police " they stated you cannot touch you wife she is a foreigner."

What would they say to a Japanese woman way back when " you are lucky to have a husband?'

These trainees are the soul bread winners in their families and depend on them to bring in the money. The Japanese Government needs to step down on these companies where the trainees work at and make them pay heavy penalty every time such an incident happens. It is cruel what these companies are getting away with and they suffer no consequences only this young girl and her baby.

I see that Japan is going down the middle road regarding masks. On trains and or shopping centers people continue to wear masks, however outside more and more people are not wearing masks and so hopefully common sense will keep the numbers down.

Those who say masks don't work they have been around for a hundred plus years used by doctors and nurses in operating rooms and heavily relied on during the pandemic to keep them safe and so they do help. I am not a fan of masks; however, I will do my best to keep myself and others around me safe by wearing them on crowded trains and or when inside crowded venues.

EvilBuddhaApr. 19  10:03 am JST

Indian smartphone market is still dominated by Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus.

Its funny that most of the nationalistic Indians who are also supporters of Modi will call for a ban on Chinese goods every time there are border clashes between India and China but then go out and buy Chinese smartphones.

The simple answer is because Chinese smartphones are cheap and Indians love cheap stuff.

Mr. Buddha,

That was a very racial comment that Indians love "cheap stuff".

If you have ever been to India, Indonesia and or any other developing Asian country because if you had you would know like this article indicated these items are out of financial reach for many because the average person. Many people in these countries just making enough to pay their rent and put food on their table. Hopefully if Apple puts a factory in India the employees make fair wages and so they are able to enjoy purchasing an apple of their own, a house and the list goes on.

The difference between Japan and N. America and other countries a detainee in the latter is permitted a lawyer when being interrogated but in Japan there is not. Had this young man had been able to have a lawyer present and had the lawyer known that this individual was sick, the young man would have received immediate medical attention.

Clearly, the police were aware this man had medical issues, they knew this man was taking medicine but had not received the medicine and or did not have the medicine on them and when falling ill not receiving immediate medical attention when knowing he had a medical condition, they were derelict in their duties.

It will be tough on single parents and there are more of those these days. As a single mom, there is no way would I let my child go into these places unattended.