Maria comments

The UK, France, Sweden, Denmark, etc guarantee 5-6 weeks of annual vacation by law!

Lifetime employment is no longer so it’s time for Japanese salarymen and women to shed their lifetime junior-high mentality. Dare to refuse after work a golf invitations from colleagues, take time off monthly, avoid meaningless meetings and focus on productivity.

9:30AM waiting for my train at dimly lit Roppongi Station, without warning an angry sounding man touched, then patted my shoulder and neck from behind. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up! Do I run?! I turned around and found a station employee scolding me for standing on and not behind the yellow line on the barrier protected platform! He returned to his spot completely ignoring the men standing on the yellow line so I took their photo. Incensed I went up to him and said you scared me. I said there are barriers, the train wasn’t pulling in, he had time to approach me from the front and he should not have touched me. I pointed to the men standing on the yellow he had ignored and asked why did you only target me? He apologized.

On my way home I told the Roppongi manager to train his staff not to touch women and especially not from behind. I told him to look at the video footage for evidence but the angle was off and didn’t show contact. How convenient!

Would like to see Godiva Cafes open at 8am in residential areas of Minato and Shibuya!

Where is Hanoi’s Obama Banchan?! Definitely rates a star for its marinated grilled pork noodles on a silky bed of rice noodles.

Pilot spent hours dumping most of the fuel in the tanks over the Pacific Ocean before the plane could safely land.

We were very puzzled seeing 50 Chinese Mandarin speaking tourists at this Kamakura area Enoden train crossing on a weekday. Security guards on bullhorns requested people not block automobiles but in Japanese. I’m not looking forward to a further influx of mainland Chinese tour groups.

Throughout the pandemic we learned Japan’s masking up is meaningless as the locals eat in restaurants with different people everyday. They spend hours inside Starbucks, Dotour cafes unmasked.

Why was it originally rejected by the FDA? How much does it cost? Japan currently relies on Lagevrio (not Paxlovid) which have been shown to create new variants.

Whale meat is no longer being consumed. Why are the Japanese government & Kyodo Senpaku wasting 6 billion yen ($46 million) on a new whaling ship?

Yet masked-up Japan experienced its largest COVID wave this past summer with new cases exceeding 200,000 a day, making Japan the world #1 COVID hot spot for weeks.

450,000 yen in economy class on Japan Airlines to Paris!

What’s the point of wearing masks all day if you eat inside packed, unventilated restaurants? Long Covid patients have packed the waiting rooms at major hospitals and there’s no cure in sight.

Another giveaway is the nasty mildew smell from the dishcloth used to wipe down your menu and table. Check recent photos on IG and see how much business they get. If there are just a few customers during peak dining hours, stay away.

No masks to protect the child and athlete on the day Japan records the highest number of covid ?

What merit is there for passengers departing from Haneda and Kuala Lumpur to drop off their baggage five hours before departure? Compared to JAL’s First lounge in Haneda, the Malaysian Airlines First Lounge in KL is claustrophobically tiny and the roti canai sauce seemed defrosted by microwave.

Yet why can’t my kids in university in the US and UK come home to see us in Tokyo?! Outrageous.

Crossing my legs is my way of maintaining social distance on the subway! Don’t want people breathing down on me through their gaping nylon masks.

How much are these army of trainees paid to guide, process, test, feed returnees from landing until sent off on buses to quarantine hotels, at Haneda and Narita airports? How much to deliver and collect meals, drinks, towels, pcr tests, and then clean the returnee quarantine and covid patient hotel rooms?

The Japanese government missed out on a chance to provide laptops to school aged students so online learning can happen even at public schools.

At the World Cheese Fromager Championship also this month in Tours, France-Japan placed 3rd!!

https://www.google.co.jp/amp/s/www.cnews.fr/food/2021-09-14/une-francaise-decroche-le-titre-de-meilleur-fromager-du-monde-1126185%3famp

Expiring vaccines! Last nights news announced tens of thousands of Pfizer vaccines delivered in March would expire June 30th. Their plan is to vaccinate pharmacists, ambulance staff, vaccination centers, and smaller hospitals. Front line workers?

“...in Japan where some people avoid working remotely" because they are too focused on having personal interactions and picking up on nonverbal cues...” Actually most Japanese employees continue working at the office because their employers don’t give them an option to work from home! Our friend who’s not even allowed to leave the company building at lunchtime recently got covid.

What Happened to Lifetime Employment?

The Japanese study from birth to attend prestigious schools and universities to be offered lifetime employment at Japan’s Top 50 corporations. They leave for work at 7am and don’t return until midnight so they never see their kids. They must wake up at 5am on the weekends to play obligatory corporate golf, or head to the office to work, then dine out Sunday night with board members or colleagues in town on business. They only share one or two meals with their families a week! If they’re transferred to a different city or country (and they can’t say no), their families usually remain in Tokyo for their kids schooling, work, or to look after their parents They rarely take days off and don’t always take their annual one week vacation- which is always taken at the very last minute so airfare is sky high, and the good hotels are sold out. In their forties they discover their beloved company that promised lifetime employment will retire them between ages 50 - 53. The company will offer them a job at a smaller firm, with less pay and fewer benefits. A job in a completely different field that doesn’t take into account their work experience or expertise, and oftentimes require them to move to a different city so their families remain in Tokyo. An entire generation of kids raised without fathers...Mr. Salaryman, was it worth it ?