The_Beagle comments

The opening salvo of WWIII,,,

That million dollar bonus for breaking a world record shows the organizers of the Enhanced Games certainly know that international sport is already enhanced.

A man in his nineties on the expressway. Make it make sense.

Not everything is about race.

anti-nuclear sentiment in Japan following the radioactive contamination of a Japanese fishing boat in the mid-1950s

Oh, is THAT why Japan is ant-nuclear?!

Public trust has been eroded since Regan was the governor. California has been sliding ever since. Trump is bringing it back up again out of rock bottom.

I guess they won't be using it to bottle any electrolyte drinks anytime soon.

Ukraine has already lost twenty percent of it's landmass, is suffering casualties at nearly a 10-to-1 rate, and has practically no new young men to abduct off the street to force them into being cannon fodder. Ir's only the huge cash infusions and military equipment donations they resell that keeps this thing afloat.

Look at him - this guy is here merely to demoralize Japan.

Rice is being precious commodity in Japan now.

Rice has always been a precious commodity here. In feudal time, retainers of the great lords received varying amounts of bushels of rice for their perceived worth and service to liege lord. What has changed is the worth of the citizens. Their liege lords now deem them nearly worthless.

Remember the Diamond Princess!

Imagine if the USSR had shipped contaminated soil from Chernobyl all over the Ukraine for road and railway embankments...

The truth hurts, 'cause that's what it is.

Why couldn't they have rushed him off to Wenzhou or Fuzhou for emergency treatment? Or how about Taipei?

I've also heard that if you make bento with the leftover stockpile rice from supper, when you reheat it the next day for lunch, the rice is dry and crumbly and unpalatable.

There have been complaints about the quality of the rice from the stockpile. It is drier than newly harvested rice, and needs more water in the rice cooker. When it's being boiled in the cooker, it foams much more than newer rice, and makes washing up afterwards a pain. The taste is off, ぜんぜんおいしくない is what I hear.

Why are they picking on hispanics?

It's a sad state of affairs, perhaps Stockholm Syndrome. Please drop the 100+% tax increase to just 50ish% kind master.

Hahaha you mean the govt should have done nothing?

Yes, exactly.

Now a group of physicians and social workers is demanding the restrictions be abolished or curbed, calling them a violation of human rights.

The government measures were always a violation of human rights. from day one.

It's not complicated at all. An unpopular government wanted to raise taxes, but did not have the mandate to do so. So they engineered inflation, which accomplished the same goal.

We're at the stage where so-called world leaders aren't even trying anymore. Guys like Biden and Ishiba are extremely obviously incompetent and/or maliciously acting against the interests of the citizens of their nations.

Yay! Let's go to a tiny island so crowded we can't drive a few clicks north/south without waiting in traffic for hours to almost miss our flight back out.

Grok had this to say:

Citizens of Peru cannot simply convert their home driver's license to a Japanese one when taking residence in Japan. Japan has bilateral agreements with certain countries that allow for direct conversion without additional tests, but Peru is not one of them. Therefore, Peruvian license holders fall into the group that must complete additional steps to convert their license.

To convert a Peruvian driver's license to a Japanese one, you must meet the following requirements:

Valid License: The Peruvian driver's license must be valid and not expired.

Residency Proof: You must prove you resided in Peru for at least three months after obtaining your license, typically through passport stamps, utility bills, or other official documents like university transcripts or work pay stubs.

Translation: The Peruvian license must be translated into Japanese by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) or, in some cases, an embassy or consulate. This costs around ¥3,000–¥4,000 and can take up to two weeks if done by mail or in person.

Required Documents: You need to provide:

The original Peruvian driver’s license (and a copy).

Official Japanese translation of the license.

Passport (and any expired passports) to prove residency duration in Peru.

Certificate of Residence (Jumin-hyo) issued within the last six months, showing nationality and visa status.

A passport-style photograph (3cm x 2.4cm, taken within six months).

Any additional documents proving residency in Peru, if requested by the licensing center.

Tests: You will need to pass:

An aptitude test (vision, hearing, and sometimes physical tasks).

A written test (typically 10 true/false questions on Japanese traffic rules, available in English or other languages).

A practical driving test on an enclosed course at a Driver’s License Center, which assesses adherence to Japanese driving standards (e.g., precise maneuvers like S-curves or crank turns).

Application Process: Apply at the Driver’s License Center in your prefecture of residence. Some centers require appointments, especially for the aptitude and driving tests, and wait times can be long due to high demand. Procedures vary by prefecture, so contact the local center for specific requirements.

Additional Notes:

The process can take 3 weeks to 2 months and cost ¥10,000–¥20,000, including translation and test fees.

Taking a few practice lessons at a driving school (¥3,000–¥7,000 per hour) is recommended to prepare for the practical test, which is known for being strict and standardized.

If you have limited Japanese proficiency (JLPT N4 or below), consider bringing a Japanese-speaking friend or contacting a consultation center for assistance during the interview or document submission.

The license must be converted within one year of arriving in Japan, as international driving permits or foreign licenses are only valid for 12 months from your last entry or the license issuance date, whichever is shorter.

For the most accurate and up-to-date information, contact the Driver’s License Center in your prefecture or visit the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) website for translation details.

More evidence that we must make foreigners take the FULL Japanese driving course rather than a simple conversion.

Japan does not have a bilateral agreement with Peru for drivers license conversions. The culprit was either driving without a valid license, using an international drivers license, or had gone through the full licensing process Japanese people have to.

There won't be a ceasefire. Russia has already been burnt a couple times where Ukraine just rearmed and rotated new soldiers to the front during a so-called ceasefire. They're in no mood for more shenanigans from the NATO knuckleheads,

No wonder tourists flock to the Lawson spot. The spot in the photo here is butt ugly.

Perhaps raising the bar for foreign conversions and lowering the bar for domestic licenses to meet each other halfway might be a step in the right direction.

That's absurd! Lower the bar for domestic licenses? How would that be accomplished? Standards are already so low there are a great many people who are self-proclaimed paper drivers.

And this chestnut;

Staying well in your lane but making a slightly wide right turn to clear that tight curb? Sorry, you fail.

If we failed (or cancelled the license) of every native driver who went wide on a turn, nobody at all would drive in Japan. Same goes for those who cut corners on a turn.

It's not surprising. Kids got hammered harder than anyone else in society during the coro-chan years. Schools, bad enough as they are, became literal prisons, with ever more draconian routines. Their teachers proved to be perfect Milgram monsters.

If they were serious about containing North Korea, they'd have been doing this decades ago.