Negative Nancy comments

A 99-year old shoulld not be driving, but I totally understand the dramatic loss of independence associted with giving up a car, especialy when you can't walk far.

Its been a while, but do manual cars have this problem too? I think the acceleration is much slower in first gear.

Sounds absolutely ghastly.

Amazing. Basketball! Whizz, bang! Swoooosh! The roar of the crowd, the colors, the sounds! The excitement! What absolute cobblers!

On what authority is this guy reporting?

Like most royal families, the Japanese Imperial system works very well and there is no need to change it. Soft diplomacy, in which experienced and intelligent non-political figureheads can represent their country, is very important in maintaining relations between countries. Whether the leading figurehead has ladies bits or gentlemens bits is irrelevant at this point in our history, and it needs to be rectified.

And we keep on hearing, equality, equality yet still young women are used as sexual products

What's wrong with that? Play to your strengths.

I learned today that Germany has a President as well as Chancellor. I thought Paul Von Hindenburg was the last President in the 1930s.

Please, please keep this kind of information in the news every day. It doesn't at all fuel the hysteria about over-tourism. Three or four large cities, which each bent over backwards to get more foreign visitors, have achieved their goal and now regret it. This reminds me of during the pandemic, when we had daily updates on the number of casualties and mortalities from the virus.

Living vicariously on the success of a superior film from thirty years ago. Time for some new ideas!

The film in question is now very dated and almost unwatchable. The biggest difficulty is the sound quality, which makes the dialogue very difficult to follow. This guy messed up by attempting to make a meagre profit from this.

Not my favorite season, and it seems to be getting longer each year. Take care to drink before you're thirsty, and allow yourself more time to do things.

I agree with an earlier commenter- no need for the last few sentences of the article. Foreign tourists don't need to be mentioned in every article.

If you go into it expecting to become fluent from an hour or so a week with volunteer teachers you are misguided. The lessons should supplement hours and hours of individual structured study and day-to-day practice. In reality, many foreigners here, especially those from Asia, do not have the financial resources to study privately, but I'm sure they are very aware that it is an option. Ideally, it would be very nice if the cities had professionals doing the teaching, but it is far from being a priority. I think this article is moaning about a non-existent problem.

BK is great, and an occasional treat when I'm out of town. I wish they were more readily available outside of the larger cities. MOS burger is missing something... the mouth feel is soft and soggy.

In this day and age, there is no reason in the world that discussions and negotiations cannot be done online or by telephone. In reality, much of the fruitful work is done on a daily basis by people who are not pictured. Most of the individuals who are in the pictures do not actually wield enough power or knowledge to be making the decisions that they are implyed to be making because they are representitives of democratic states.

However, the summits are a media-friendly opportunity to show that there is some unity between powerful nations. This serves two purposes- to remind the citizens of those countries that they have allies, and to remind people outside of those countries that the nations at the summit have allies. The BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), but with less publicity in Western media.

An interesting advert for her private practice. I wonder if all her advice is so cutting edge!

In defense of Lady Gaga, she can actually sing when she wants to. Her work with the late Tony Bennett in particular changed my mind about her.

All very well and good, but we should be supporting a 'bring your own cup' policy. Disposable is not a good thing.

Women are equals. The idea of women being the weaker sex is no longer sensible. Obviously, it is cowardly to punch ANYONE without provocation, irrespective of their sex. NOBODY should be the victim of violence in any form.

A man should basically have the same rights to access his children as the mother. If either of them (mother or father) are abusive, then of course that should be carefully considered. However, if the incident is isolated and in the heat of an argument, then denying someone access to their children is an over-reaction.

This article does not report continued domestic violence, it reports an isolated incident and without sufficient context to make any judgement.

If sustaining a country's existence, like Japan, is not an attractive reason, pray-tell, then what exactly constitutes an attractive reason to have children, or do any exist?

Assume you're childless and seeking to justify this status, but please share to help enlighten policymakers!

Firstly, your assumption is incorrect, I am very pleased and proud to be a father. Raising children is a challenging but wonderful joy, and the best thing I've ever done.

Sustaining the national existence by adding to the population is not a normal thought process when you're having children unless 1) you live in the third world and you need help with physical labour, or 2) you are the Emperor and you're trying to make a male heir!

I'm sure its very nice, but no thanks. Not my cup of tea.

It's one punch. There is no specific mention of other physical incidents. In a high stress situation, perhaps he lost his cool. Also, we know the ex-wife called the cops, but do we know of the situation leading up to the alleged assault? Before we make judgements about removing custody, let's consider this properly.

I wouldn't, because I'm a light sleeper and I think I would get too hot. If other people want to do it, then sure, why not.

I think as men are more and more active in the their children's lives, it is nice to see that it is being recognized. I dislike commercial/artificial days, but as a very active participant in my child's life, it is nice to be shown some recognition. In my case, a smile and hug, a beautiful hand-made thank-you card and a big bottle of pepsi. It made my day.

Nothing learned from the Abe and Kishida attacks. Carry on having speeches in unvetted public places. Keep making noise on the top of vans on street corners. Put the police at risk for what gain?

I've lost four friends to alcohol. Two by what used to be called 'misadventure', and two who slowly poisoned themselves to death. I cut out drinking completely forever. The advantages are far outweighed by the damage it causes. Some of the stories in the article about people wetting themselves or attempting to hide their problems from their loved ones are very sad indeed. This unfortuntely reminds me of the things we used to joke about concerning my friends who had drinking problems.

They were dead by 50.

Haha! Tokyo can have it!

Have children to lower the burden on older people! Not an attractive reason to be having children.

Something of a loaded question, but yes, of course. I love books and I would sorely miss them. Having said that, in recent times, if I am buying English books the cost is just too high to justify many of them being bought as a physical version. At the rate that I consume books, Kindle is realistically the only way to do it. The added benefit being that I can carry an enormous amount along with me.

This is going to be an interesting week. Israel was already being shown to be comitting genocide in Gaza, and now they attack Iran. It seems the carefully-controlled narrative is starting to unravel. I wonder if the Western politicians will be shifting their narratives now too?

In my case, when I was single, I ate better, was more physically active, and more socially active. I was saving money more effectively by living economically. Marriage for me has been detrimental to my health and wealth without a doubt. I'm the main breadwinner and I contribute more to domestic issues and childcare by far. My wife, on the other hand, has married into a comfortable lifestyle. Since our relationship began, she has more autonomy than she did in her family home, and has become more active as a result of our current family life. She's travelled more, she has more spending money, and she has widened social circles and is involved in a broader range of hobbies and interests.

The grass is not always greener on the other side, and there are so many variables to say one way of life is better than the other. I personally prefer aspects of both single and married life.

Its fetishism. Some people are excited by the idea of the idols being under control like that. I just see them as being dim-witted children in sillly costumes. They may have nice teeth, but they're not attractive in a sexual sense. The vulnerable people who patronise them feel some kind of power in controlling the idols, who are even more vulnerable. Their rank on the totem-pole of life feels higher than it is by their feeling of control over little girls. This is all done on the pretence that they are creating music, which of course they are not.

If you want music, seek a musician.

If you want sex, seek a woman, preferably with a brain.

If you want to be respected by society, stop living in a fantasy world, and better yourself.