divinda comments

How can Japan give subsidies for installation in China ?

Your talk does not make sense at all. Please elaborate and give factual data

Huh? Installation in China?? I'm talking about installed in Japan. Please re-read my post.

Again, if someone wants to install solar cells in Japan, they can easily get a subsidy from the government to help pay for it.

Those solar cells being installed are mostly made in China.

So the subsidy money from the Japanese government is given to Japanese consumers and power plants so they can go buy a product made in China.

Massive Japanese solar subsidies have been given out ever since the Fukushima disaster in 2011. Look it up.

Japan's share of global solar panel production has declined to less than 1 percent from around 50 percent in 2004, overwhelmed by Chinese makers producing solar panels supported by massive state subsidies.

Rather than providing massive state subsidies to actual solar cell production, Japan instead gives massive state subsidies to the purchase and installation of solar cells to both homes and power plants.

And being that these solar cells being installed are mostly made in China, the Japanese government is essentially giving this taxpayer money to Chinese companies... so these companies are being subsidized on both ends!

The demand for more Nozomi reserved seats is probably from a few factors.

For one, way fewer foreign tourists now get a Rail Pass since they jacked up the price last year. Previously with the Rail Pass, the Nozomi was not allowed, but since foreigners don't use the Rail Pass nearly as much and need to buy the individual tickets, they just opt for the faster Nozomi since its the same price as the other shinkansen trains, and paying a few hundred yen more for a guarenteed seat is nothing for most people. And for those who do get the Rail Pass, it is now possible to use the Nozomi (with an extra fee).

Also, many foreign tourists (particularly first-timers) methodically plan every part of their trip and get reserved seats because they think it is required to book their train tickets well in advance or else they can't somehow get on a train if buying their tickets on the day of travel and going with unreserved.

And anyone using a travel agent usually has their tickets and seats pre-booked for their whole trip.

And there is also the fact that anyone (foreign or Japanese) bringing onboard the increasingly ubiquitous massive suitcases must now have a reserved seat in order to be allowed to take their behemoth baggage on any shinkansen (or else pay an extra 1000 yen baggage fee, which is usually more than the reserved seat fee).

@jennie

Indeed, I don't think there was a direct tax-refund option at the airport, but it was a pretty complicated mess and has been streamlined gradually to the current (and soon to be retired) system starting from about 10 years ago (maybe 11 or 12?), but for brevity, I didn't detail it above, but as I remember it, this is how it went:

Non-residents could get a tax exemption only from a rather limited number of stores (mainly just the big department stores and electron shops in just a handful of cities). To do so, it meant paying the full taxed amount, then going to a separate in-store tax counter and presenting one's passport, then filling in forms (with a purchase of at least 10,000 yen) to get a tax refund, at which time they stapled a special slip directly into your passport which was a receipt for that purchase, and they would also mark the slip with a rubber stamp that was half on the receipt and half on the page, so you couldn't just take it out.

Then upon departing Japan, that stapled slip would be shown at exit immigration who then directed you to the customs tax counter so they could physically inspect the goods that were to be taken out of the country (so anything bought had to be taken as a carry-on), and if you could not show the goods, you needed to pay the tax on the slip in order to leave the country.

But back then the tax was just 5%, the eligible items for duty-free was limited, and a lot of those stores which did offer the duty-free option were often overpriced anyway, so it wan't really worth the hassle of seeking the refund, not to mention that Japan had less than 10 million foreign tourists per year, so there were substantially fewer people doing this.

As things progressed in the past decade or so, the number of shops offering duty-free vastly expanded, the number of tourists vastly expanded, the range of eligible duty-free goods was vastly expanded, the duty-free amount was reduced to 5000 yen, the tax itself was raised to 10%, then stores started doing duty-free right at the register, the stapled passport slip was eliminated, the need for a showing one's passport itself at a store was eliminated (if pre-registering), purchased items could even be put into checked bags, and the airport staff supposedly inspecting the purchases rarely checked unless its for a large sum and even then most people can just skate through.

So if once again making it difficult, people may again say its just not worth the bother of getting their tax refund, and therefore Japan can maintain its international reputation for (supposedly) offering duty-free for purchases, but in the end Japan can actually keep a lot of that tax which is currently being un-collected, while also cracking-down on those who abuse the system by re-selling or "gifting" their tax-free stuff while still in Japan.

people are usually very cooperative

You just agreed that there will be inevitable problems by stating "usually" instead of "always".

And now with 35+million foreign tourists per year coming through with most potentially seeking a refund as they attempt to expeditiously to do this while their flights are at the gate, there is sure to be more than a bit of stress in the air.

(FYI, until about ten years ago it was only possible for foreign tourists to get their consumption tax refund by presenting their receipts at the airport, but they changed it to allow duty free in the shops since the airport-only system was becoming a mess and Japan wanted to promote shopping as a tourism activity... but it seems to have now gone full circle, and the airport mess will surely follow suit)

This US article being released now sure is nicely timed with how the Biden administration announcing today that the costs for Ozempic, Wegovy, etc will be covered under Medicare and Medicaid.

US population = 335,000,000

Percent of population on Medicare & Medicaid = 38%

US obesity rate = 35%-40%

So about 44+ million potential new users for these drugs will be coming to market with their costs covered by US taxpayers.

But as stated in the article, "as many as 1 in 5" of these people won't actually lose weight from taking these drugs after spending a year+ trying. So for 8+ million of these Medicare/Medicaid people, these drugs will not be effective.

These drugs cost about $12,000 per year, so 100 billion+ taxpayer dollars will be spent on those inevitable failed outcomes (assuming they stop trying at just one year), not to mention the billions in additional costs that will come with treating all the side effects.

But at least the government and drug companies can justify that massive loss by pointing to things like this article and say "hey, we've always said since the beginning that it wouldn't actually work for everybody...."

Shanghai-listed CRRC's "Autonomous Rapid Transit" is a new-generation tram that uses magnetic road markings and can be operated unmanned.

A sign of the times which shows Japan is less and less of a technology and innovation hub…

Its worth noting the ridiculousness going on here:

During the initial round of voting in the 465-member House of Representatives, none of the candidates reached the majority threshold of 233 votes required to be elected prime minister.

In this initial round, 221 voted for Ishiba, 151 for Noda, and 93 for 7 other candidates. Since nobody got a majority, a runoff vote was held between the top two finishers from the first vote.

In the runoff, there were only 2 options: Ishiba and Noda. That's it.

In the runoff, Ishiba received 221 votes, surpassing Noda's 160, and was declared the winner, with 84 deemed invalid.

The runoff result was Ishiba got 221 again (so unchanged from the initial round), Noda got 160 (so an increase of 9 from the initial round) and the 84 "invalid" votes were for other candidates that were not among the 2 options. Those 84 elected officials (all from small parties) preferred to waste their vote instead of actually supporting someone, and in doing so, they indirectly re-elect Ishiba.

Admittedly, I have previously seen how since last year the Shinkansen is being used to haul some fruit and seafood, but they do so in the most impractical way possible by stuffing boxes between empty seats. So I did a quick search and found a photo here:

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14957565

And it was also announced just last month that for the very first time in its 60 years of existence they will finally "consider" to develop a dedicated cargo-car space on future Shinkansen trains

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/business/companies/20241003-214575/

Japan is planning to build an automated cargo transport corridor between Tokyo and Osaka

Wonder if any of these government masterminds realize that there does happen to be a couple train lines connecting Tokyo Osaka, some of which move pretty fast I heard, and they are all virtually empty with train traffic from midnight to about 6am. And from what I understand, those archaic train lines apparently connect to a few other cities as well...

For reasons of the rice shortage and high price, the article mentions bad weather, it mentions inflation on utilities, it mentions stockpiling due to megaquake concerns, and it of course mentions foreign tourists...

...but somehow it fails to mention what was announced nearly 2 months ago: "Japan’s rice export volume from January to July hit a record high 24,469 tons, increasing 23% from the same period last year, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry announced Tuesday."

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/business/economy/20240904-209196/

Opposition's Ex-PM Noda may give ruling LDP good fight in election

Not a fan of the LDP, but the key word for the pathetic opposition here is "may".

Halloween skeletons...

..or a campaign promotion for the members and style of the LDP.

Instead of the flying taxis, just replace them with some Mario go-karts and all the gaijin tourists will then flock to the Expo for the chance to drive around the dystopia of uncompleted and unused exhibitor sites for all the countries which have bailed out. And since it would be considered a private location not on public roads, there's no need to have actual drivers licenses.

But further into the article, it's two people. Two. All this just for two people who drove without a license.

Its not merely driving without a license, it also how the lack of license issue was discovered by the cops:

"One of the two individuals caused property damage after colliding with a parked vehicle on the roadside. The police officer who responded arrested the individual on the spot for driving without a license."

If someone is 6'9, yes their weight is beyond their control.

Then base it on BMI.

And before you call out the skewed BMI of body builders, massive muscles are equally a lifestyle choice.

There are also theories that metabolism does very significantly from person to person.

And yet somehow just 60 or 70 years ago the metabolic rate of the majority of humanity was pretty much the same.

You feel discriminated against because you are using the same service as other passengers and your weight is beyond your control.

The entire "ethical" argument presented here is based on the fallacy that one's weight is somehow an uncontrollable aspect of life. It is not.

Anyone who ever shopped for potatoes in the US would notice how potatoes there do not have any sprouts, neither in the store or for weeks later after you take them home. This is due to is the use of the sprout-inhibiting herbicide chlorpropham (CIPC) on US potatoes which is has carcinogenic effects, and causes endocrine disruption, liver and kidney damage, and respiratory issues to long-term consumers. Direct exposure on workers causes skin and eye irritation, nausea, and respiratory trouble, and the leeching of it into the environment causes soil and water pollution that disrupts plant and animal life and affects the overall food chain.

CIPC is currently banned for use in many countries including the EU and Japan, but its hard to understand why since the US populace is such an obvious model for good health,

U.S. gov't accuses social media giants of 'vast surveillance'

Pot. Kettle. Black.

In their researched assessment, this think tank....

assumes that Japan's power consumption will remain stable

And in the very next paragraph, it is stated that there is a current need to...

cope with an increase in energy demand.

So the entire "think tank" assessment is based on a empirically false assumption.

Sorry, in the above second paragraph I mean to say "they can not in fact speak the English..."

For better context about this quote, it should be first understood that young Japanese are increasingly seeking to go abroad (especially to Australia), in order to find better paying jobs due to the unwillingness of domestic J-business to give proper pay, and how the weak yen makes jobs located abroad all that much more attractive. And Australia is also where they believe they can (supposedly) develop their English skills.

Here's a story on that: "Japanese flock to Australia in record numbers on 'working holiday'"

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/3408/

But more specifically about this quote, its been in the news recently how the increasing numbers of Japanese who go to Australia on work holiday visas end up struggling while there because they can in fact speak the English they spent 6 to 12 years "learning" in J-schools (and how then "studying" English after they do move to Australia is not enough), and how Australia is actually much more expensive than they thought (which goes hand-in-hand with that higher pay and weak yen), and how they also can't get hired anywhere without being able to more skillfully communicate in what has become an increasingly competitive job market for not just Japanese going there, but also with the 50 other countries involved in the work-holiday visa program who also see Australia as a opportune spot.

Here's an article on all that, and how those Japanese trying to work in Australia need charity support just to survive: "Jobs difficult to find for those on working holiday in Australia"

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15395932

If a combini chain can be this important, then I guess the J-gov should understand that US Steel is also considered a "core industry".

Cashless systems add 2 to 4% to the bill, which is passed on to the consumer. And its paid on top of Japan's 10% consumption tax (so a fee for paying tax).

When a business is cash only, they can sell for less. There is a large chain drug store & grocery called Cosmos that is cash only, and is reliably cheaper for practically everything they sell compared to other similar stores.

And unlike other countries, a business can not add a fee if paying cashless, but they can potentially give a discount for cash (but the listed price must be the full price).

Oh, and despite how they only promote the "convenience and security" for cashless, cash is still for the most part untraceable and potentially un-taxable... hence why the government truly wants to stop it.

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She said that while using an electric toothbrush, she does squats or lunges or works on her balance by standing on one leg.

Exercising (including balancing) while having something in your mouth that can impale your throat is an accident waiting to happen, and its pretty irresponsible that this is being promoted in this article for others to do.

What next, go jogging with scissors?

 the driver forgot to open the train doors at Jieitai Station

Or maybe he didn't "forget" and is instead just not a fan of the JSDF.

I literally suggested the name "MyVisa" (all one word) just the other day for Japan's new JESTA scheme.

It was supposed to be a joke.

https://japantoday.com/category/features/travel/japan-set-to-introduce-new-entry-system-for-foreign-tourists-1

...I think I've been here too long.

"Bombing the second city, Nagasaki, was not necessary. Also, I would argue that even Hiroshima was not necessary,"

Being that humans have the unique ability to communicate, negotiate, and compromise to benefit everyone's best interest, I would argue that pretty much every war ever fought was not necessary.

Hundreds of millions of yen was pumped into the short lived Premium Friday campaign a few years back which simply wanted workers to get off at 3pm on the final Friday of the month. It failed and pretty much stopped being mentioned within about 3 months.

If companies wouldn't allow their staff to leave a bit early once a month, its insane to think that at a time Japan is supposedly having a labor shortage they would give them an entire extra day off every week.

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@Moonraker, its not solely about the security, its also about the money.

Its not mentioned here, but the US ESTA costs $21, or nearly 3000 yen. By 2030 when they start this in Japan, they'll probably be charging more like 4,000 yen.

With the expected 40+ million foreign tourists by then, that's a lot of yen!