hooktrunk2 comments

This year's Metro posters are drawn by Obatasaki: https://www.instagram.com/obatasaki/

Unfortunately for the police, it's like playing whack-a-mole. There are just too many to stop. The laws in Japan are generally there in case someone gets hurt, and so they can charge the offender with a crime.

Wheelies aren't lame. These riders are lame for doing them in a crowded place are lame.

Ever seen a circus, mountain bike or bmx race?

I don't condone what these guys did, but the level of anti-bicycle content on JT is concerning. I don't like bad riders as much as the next guy, but headlines like this just makes people hate all bike riders, even safe ones.

"Lame", "Bicycle Gang", "Lame wheelies". Lame phrasing--imo.

Some time this spring in Akihabara at the top of the Tsukuba Express escalators, which are really long, there were some ojisan maintenance workers yelling down at the people who were walking on the escalators in that rough way ojisan can sometimes. People kept walking and the Ojisans kept yelling.  

BTW, these workers had equipment and head lamps and were on their way down to do some inspecting, so they weren’t paid escalator blockers.

the Nationality Law, which stipulates the loss of Japanese nationality upon voluntarily acquiring a foreign nationality

Did she seek US citizenship herself?

Has there ever been a ruling regarding Japanese born who acquired US citizenship via their parents applying for them at birth, thus not voluntary?

There is a penalty for giving up US citizenship and one can only do it for financial reasons, I believe.  I don’t think one can be coerced into giving it up, but I might be wrong.  

I have read that the US can ban people from even entering the country if they give up their US citizenship. Not sure if any from Japan, tho. 

I don’t know what to advise my kids. They haven’t had a chance to experience the US yet. My daughter has expressed interest in living there. I don’t think my son has any interest, however.  

I know, I need to see, an immigration lawyer, but I’m wondering other people’s experiences.

and installing security cameras and sensor lights.

Covering a farm with camera could be expensive.  

I’m not a farmer, but we bought one Tapo/TP Link security camera for our home. It connects to our wifi and I can access away from home. Works great! 

Video clips are saved on a micro SD card or the company’s server server. So far it has only captured me and our stray cats.  

BTW, had a couple small things stolen last year—a bicycle pump and something else, but it got us thinking that next time might be something worth more, so we got the camera.  

The same camera could easily work for a bunch of green houses and with TP Link’s Mesh wifi routers the coverage could be expanded wherever access to power is—although I am no expert.

During the actual pandemic, my wife was hospitalized in Tokyo for some intestinal issue that she could have died from. I wasn't allowed up to see her. I felt completely helpless. Sounds like they are still doing this.

My father had NPH, but didn't get the treatment in time to prevent the damage that was already done, and he was in his 80's, so not a good prognosis. My father's NPH affected his short-term memory. He could remember us to the end, but it took a week for something to stay in his memory. The shunt and valve that is put into his brain relieved the pressure on the brain. For some, if caught early, can supposedly be an affective treatment.

I hope it was caught early enough in Billy Joel so that he can continue to perform again. For my father it was a 10 year ordeal.

It's already down from a month or so ago when in my part of Tokyo I saw gas going for 188 per liter. This morning I filled up for 171 and I saw it posted for 169 or lower, and that is without the subsidy.

I find it difficult to see the connection between the two.

Japan has a huge elderly population with fixed incomes. Since one can't live without water, they would presumably skimp on the AC to pay for the water utility and then possibly succumb to heat stroke. Of course by encouraging people to use their AC's it contributes to the heat problem. A vicious circle. Hopefully there will be less heat deaths at least.

I think some people are just stubborn and refuse to use their AC's, though. A former student of mine was like that.

Taku writes note in diary: Ask someone where rice is sold. Need photo(s) of me buying rice.

@Mr Kipling

Great idea but why only "off season"?

During the climbing season there are doctors and rescue staff stationed on the mountain, so while a lot of work to climb up and down to reach them, there probably isn't the expensive cost of reaching the mountain and extracting them. There are also huts for people to recover in and actual beds in the rescue clinic on the mountain, but only open during the season.

The in-season climbing fee would presumably help cover this.

@ohara

The Who have been doing “Farewell” tours since 1982

I remember KGON in Portland broadcasting it in our area and I asked my sister to hit the play button the tape recorder, but she refused (typical sister). I was late for pep band because of it--priorities. Had I only known how many farewell concerts The Who would have, I wouldn't have been so irked. Haha.

@hooktrunk2 - you forgot 袋. Otherwise, you said you’re carrying around a bunch of vinyls - as in vinyl records.

Sure, if you are in a record shop, but if there a bunch of plastic bags right there and you are referring to them, you can certainly can them ビニール。But I usually say レジ袋。

@JAY

Always stay alert, keep your head on a swivel, and be ready to act.

So I’m supposed to be all twitchy and paranoid, ready to spring into action for the whole of my hour and a half ride on the train and bus? I’d be a nervous wreck and a basket case myself if I did that.  

If this type of vigilance is how things are, say, in the US, how come there are so many people killed by general violence? Wouldn’t they mostly be stopped by your gun toting or on-guard-all-the-time people?

I hope this young man isn't seriously hurt.

@Ryokai

My biggest complaint as a tourist in Japan is the complete absence of public benches in Kamakura.

Yeah, lack of benches elsewhere as well. I often carry a tiny stool I can strap to my backpack(along with all my trash bags). But in Kamakura I usually rent an electric mamachari from the rental shop on the east side of the station(south end of the lottery).

Tourists don't have a home to go back to, to throw the trash out or plan around?

Is it not OK to leave your trash in your hotel room?

Also, if I buy a bento at, say, a 7-11, I might ask another 7-11 on down the road if I can drop the trash in their bin. I keep the receipt just in case, but no one ever asks. If you are worried, you can buy a couple squares of those tiny Tirol chocolates and then suddenly you become a customer.

I usually end up looking like a trashbag man with several ビニール tied to my backpack’s daisy chains.

I wish Jasmine rice was more affordable and more widely served in Japan. I love the smell and flavor much more than traditional sticky rice.

OK, I'm getting downvoted, but I didn't mean serving it with sushi or anything like that. Haha. Can you imagine?

I just wish I could find it near my home in the same size bag as can Japanese rice. I can only find it at Gyomu Supa, aka Tokyo Liqueur Land, near me and it comes in the tiniest bag size similar to a bag of nuts!

I wish Jasmine rice was more affordable and more widely served in Japan. I love the smell and flavor much more than traditional sticky rice.

@Ossan

Acutally it is mandatory. In Japan one must ride a bicycle in the same direction as the motor vehicle traffic.Yes they should be heavily fined.

Actually that is not true. Many streets are one way for cars but both ways for bicycles. There are white signs below the one way signs that say in Japanese, "except for bicycles." However the bicycle should ride on the left side, whichever direction they are traveling.

Here's a link to the video and the article that mentions the speed of the car. It doesn't look like they were driving slowly.

https://news.ntv.co.jp/category/society/76ff8f9beff14cd096c836b41117c885

RIP

I saw people in penny loafers, dress shirts, basketball shorts, space blankets, Shibuya fashion, a wedding dress( only at the top), etc.

Hisanori Ueda, 37, who oversees the operations of the Kansai series, said the race at Kyoto's Katsura River where nearly 1,000 riders entered "must be the largest in the history of cyclocross in Japan."

While not sanctioned, I wonder if Akigase Bikelore(now Bikeland) isn't bigger. But perhaps it doesn't matter as it's all about having fun on a bike with friends.

@wallace

“There will be no new health cards issued from this summer and everyone will use My Number instead”

But not once did someone actually look at the photo on my My Number card to verify if it was actually me. They just point toward the scanner and ask me to log in.

The my number card could possibly solve this if everyone were required to use it instead of hokensho, but the biometric log-in isn't required and a password can be used. They could require photo ID if a password is used, but that makes the hospital or clinic police the issue. I had a hat on once and it gummed up the works, Removed my hat and Face ID worked.

@Saltwater Shenanigans

Japan needs to make it a law that anyone 70 or older needs to surrender their drivers license before they cause an accident.

Unfortunately folks in the countryside don't have the option to take a train as easily as those living in the city and I'm not talking about the suburbs. I mean the real countryside where they have no option but to drive after the age of 70.

But luckily I live close to 3 stations, sort of. Still takes me 30 minutes to walk to each one and I live in Tokyo.

@JeffLee

I make a point of shoving their bags hard with the palm of my hand when brushing past.

Or you could nicely remind them to wear it in front first before assaulting them.

I'm worried that it will weaken copyright laws for creative people. Already many of us have decided to stay off line and not post our stuff anymore. The world looses when that happens, imo.

@Eugene

Volcanoes almost never spontaneously erupt.

There was no warning before the 2014 eruption of Mt. Ontake that killed 60 people. That mountain was and is monitored.