lordoflys comments

Is this a serious question? The entire island of Rhodes is under a state of emergency and there are big fires on other islands and cities as well. At least 40 have died and thousands have been evacuated. Temperatures have climbed to nearly 48C and you ask the question whether or not this will hurt tourism? We have entered a new reality. Climate change is here and will get much worse. Hunker down and move to a place with lots of water and elevation to avoid the worst of the heat and rising water. Oh yeah. If you're foolish enough to go there to sunbathe bring lots of sunblock or, better yet, a heat-resistant emergency shelter.

Mostly, it is social media that excites consumers. I've been to the Nikka distillery three times. It's a great trip and the whiskey is very good. For sippin' I prefer a Scotch or a Nikka and from time to time I do a bourbon. But, in the long run, I enjoy a west coast IPA.

It is unfortunate that the tainted water is to be dumped into the ocean and it is not surprising that people will avoid seafood that has been in contact with radioactive water. However, 15% of imports is not that significant. Pay a bit more for seafood from Hokkaido is all. Meanwhile, this whole thing will blow over in a few years and nobody will remember. They will all be gathered beneath an airconditioner as temperatures climb over 100 degrees F for extend periods of time.

I had two sons that were both employed at Johnny's. It was a well-known secret that he was systematically sexually abusing young boys...My wife and I pulled both sons out of his group after learning this. Nobody took any action at all against this abuser as he controlled the young music scene for decades.

I wish that there was something I could say that would lessen the sting of online criticism to young people. It is a problem worldwide. Korea is a great country, as is Japan, and there is a need to put people at ease in everyday life. It's not a race. It's just living one day at a time living your life responsibly.

I first came to Japan in the late '70s. I used to visit my girlfriend's house (now my wife) and read her brother's copy of Hadashi no Gen in English. At that time it was the only thing around in English and I read it over and over. The illustrations were also very cool. That booklet meant a lot to me at the time and I'm saddened that it would be omitted from the Hall. Gen stole the fish from the pond to feed his family...I would do the same and hopefully, you would as well.

I have to say that municipal pools as well as most school pools are chlorinated practically to death. Yes, it's better than being eaten by parameciums but the thought of swimming in someone else's urine never really seemed attractive to me. I got rid of of my hot tub after discovering its modus was just to add chemicals to it daily and to keep it running. No thanks. Expensive and nasty. The best place to swim is in the ocean. Preferably way outside an urban area.

That Japan Public Schools in some areas regularly check students underwear for color violations is beyond nuts and borders on sexual deviancy.....as does requiring female students to wear skirts in cold weather. The old men that dream up these rulings obviously read too much racy manga in their "spare" time. I'm surprised that female lawmakers haven't called this spade a spade.

Medvedev is very Trump-like. A bad character flaw.

The legacy of Catholicism has ruined lives from state-sponsored schools, the Inquisition, which instilled terror into every European town and city and which included church-sponsored torture during the Dark Ages, the Crusades, and hundreds of lesser wars all started in the name of religion. Not to mention sexual assault on young church members to an extent that still has not been fully realized by Catholic priests and officers within their own Church society. Call it a religion or call it a cult. It's all the same thing.

Gee, we saw that one year Trump paid zero US taxes while paying a big tax return to China. I'm sure that the money he paid to China contributed to China's defense budget.

Putin is silently congratulating himself for putting criminals, including political criminals, homeless, and other underserved men, young and old, onto the front lines of his war...all the while sending rockets and bombs toward civilian targets in Ukraine. At some point Putin will get his just rewards. The sooner the better.

I like to cook turkeys in my oil-less turkey fryer but I'm the only one in the family that likes turkey so I agreed to head to KFC in Yokohama with my son. I was surprised and disappointed to find out that you needed to reserve your chicken weeks in advance. I brought home cheap sushi instead. Didn't taste that good.

The US is protecting FIFA, an organization that took bribes to award the World Cup. Why?

The real tragedy here is that while the LDP gave free reign for this so called "Church" to fleece Japanese out of money, in exchange for part of the loot....much of the money was sent to North Korea to assist in developing missiles aimed at Japan. LDP=Treason

I was hoping for a lobster tail on a bun a la lobster roll. This looks more like a Rolling Stones T-shirt. Oh! Someone already said that. Sry, FizzBit

I agree with the author of this post. I lived in Saipan for 10 years and struggled with water all that time. Most homes have cisterns there that hold rainwater captured from the roof which helped a great deal. I would say that my community water usage was less than half after installing a cistern underground. In the future, we could cut water usage by 75% by requiring cisterns for private and commercial businesses as well as restricting water usage for landscaping and by utilizing local plants for this purpose.

I've watched two episodes. This is a 180 degree gender-switching opera. Women and girls are the main characters with disastrous results. Just my opinion but the series isn't salvageable even with a strong performance by the main character.

I could solve the feral monkey problem and, as a bonus, could dent the crow population if the govt. would allow me to use my Browning 12 gauge semi-auto for some selective hunting. A few kills would alert the monkeys to stay away from humans although the lack of proper monkey etiquette by humans seems to be the biggest problem. The crow problems could be controlled if the Japanese municipal guys would get serious and begin paying bounties on adult birds. There are a number of oldtimers out there that are deadly with slings.

OK. I have two homes in Japan. I bought the house I live in now 20 years ago. My bank would not offer me a mortgage loan but they sent me to a smaller bank they were associated with. The small bank required 50% down and another 50% deposited in their bank although I could withdraw this after the loan was approved. In other words, I had to prove that I didn't need a loan before they would grant me one. I sold off some real estate in the US to raise the money and I was granted a 10 year mortgage. I bought the second home from a friend in Okinawa. The land is leased. To this day there is no "legal" house owner since local Japanese law does not recognize foreign signatures under certain guidelines. We tried using an attorney twice with no success. It doesn't matter as I just rent it out. I pay the taxes on it regularly. I can only wish that other foreign buyers in this country have better luck with real estate than I do, although I don't regret purchasing either property.

I drove a Crown for years in Japan. Great car. Toyota's are so dependable they're scary.

I feel terrible for all the people in Japan. This senseless act has shocked the nation and the world. I'm hoping Japan will come out of this tragedy stronger than ever. Life is short. Shorter for some than others.

I live in Japan and am currently on a vacation in Palau and Guam. COVID is not such a serious threat that draconian measures are necessary. Masks are off on United airlines after leaving Narita. Covid tests are not necessary before entering the US and only an antigen test is needed for Palau. At this stage in history, the nutcakes running the Japanese govt. should require vaccination cards for tourists entering the country and leave it at that. Possibly an antigen test. People recognize that Covid testing is straining the budgets of those who need to travel and putting a stop to those who would go on vacation. If and when it becomes necessary to close borders again it can be done. But why does Japan insist on refusing to change when change is necessary?

Bar his COVID-infected behind from entering the country.

You could always just fill your tableware drawer is plastic sporks. They're pretty useful eating tools if the rice isn't too sticky or if you're not in a hurry to eat your soup. They're never dangerous and provide months of useful service. Seriously, I've lived in Japan for 38 years. Only one time did I drink (in Aomori-ken) about 30 years ago when an elderly Japanese gentleman lost his cool and started yelling at us about WW2. Not cool and we downed the shochu and walked down the street.

Spam has a 5 year shelf life in a can. Tuna fish has about a year. After that the only use it has is to chum for sharks. There is abundant fresh food available in Japan and elsewhere. Eat it and skip the can.

Craft beers are becoming popular world-wide, including Japan. Most of the local craft beers here are lagers, resembling the local mass beers. For this reason, US craft beers, including IPAs are rapidly growing in popularity. Part of this is due to the availability of northwest hops in the US. Hops are not grown in Japan (at least I don't think they are). In any case, I've had some great Japan craft beer but, pricing notwithstanding, I'll continue to purchase US and other international craft beer.

There is enough resentment and push-back by Okinawans to necessitate a scheduled draw-down of US Forces from the prefecture. There are many places within and without mainland Japan that would welcome US bases. There is no sense of urgency among central Japanese politicians, US Military Forces, Japan, or US politicians to do this. Nothing will be done until people and/or property are threatened....unfortunately. In the meantime, band-aids like Guam will have to suffice. Saber-rattling by China and Russian notwithstanding.

Well, first have you all checked to see what a Taco lunch or dinner costs at an (ahem) "Mexican" restaurant in Japan? About Y1700 (with iced tea). This DIY Taco Kit is great for those who need the basic fixings for a party at home where you have some real hot sauce stashed away. No, believe me, for Japan this is a good thing. Trouble is, there isn't a TB near my house in Yokohama.

Guys...for 15 years I'd go to the flight line cafe at Yokota Air Base before it closed some years ago. Best SOS in Japan...yeah, I know that's not saying much, but for $4.99 you could have sausage gravy on a biscuit, two eggs, and some forgettable hash browns (which I never ate). Other than that I prefer the Japanese breakfast (with salmon, no natto) at Dennys. I stayed, with a client, at the Yokohama Hotel once and they charged us 5000 yen each for the breakfast buffet. Outrageous even by Japan standards. In the final analysis, I recommend that you try the breakfast buffet at the Komaki Grand Hotel Onsen in Misawa-shi, Awamori-ken. Keep your yukata on and prepare yourself for a 2 hour breakfast if you can handle it. Enough variety of Japanese rural food to sink a ship. Enough said.