yoshisan88 comments

Here in Australia:

Top 10 selling car models in 2023

Ford Ranger – 63,356

Toyota Hilux – 61,111

Isuzu Ute D-Max – 31,202

Toyota RAV4 – 29,627

MG ZS – 29,258

Tesla Model Y – 28,769

Toyota Landcruiser – 26,449

Mitsubishi Outlander – 24,263

Mazda CX-5 – 23,083

Hyundai Tucson – 21,224

Ford is doing quite well in Australia. Its Ranger outsold Toyota Hilux last year. It is still selling well in 2024. The car is manufactured in Thailand.

Enjoyed her nice little Aussie taxpayer funded Euro vacation...now get out of the spotlight...she's smarter than you think.

She maybe a terrible break dancer but she has a kickass acadamic background.

Rachael Louise Gunn (born 2 September 1987), known competitively as Raygun, is an Australian academic and retired competitive breakdancer. In September 2024, she became ranked as the world number 1, by the World DanceSport Federation.[1] She is a lecturer in the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language, and Literature at Macquarie University Faculty of Arts.

Gunn attended Barker College[6] before enrolling at Macquarie University, where she completed a bachelor's degree in contemporary music in 2009 and a PhD in cultural studies in 2017.

FYI:

Macquarie University has risen to 178 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025, retaining its position within the top 10 universities in Australia.

People have really changed.

Eddie the Eagle

Eric Moussambani aka Eric the eel.

They both were treated much better than Raygun.

From 2018:

4 men arrested for allegedly overturning truck during Halloween event

 KYODO NEWS - Dec 5, 2018 - 21:20 | Arts,

Four men were arrested Wednesday for allegedly overturning a small truck during a Halloween event in late October in the busy Shibuya district of Tokyo, police said.

No one was injured in the incident that occurred in the early hours of Oct. 28, but it was one of a series of escalating pranks at the increasingly popular Halloween event in Shibuya.

The four -- Yuta Kuroki, 27, Takaaki Kawamura, 22, Shota Kojihara, 20, and Rikuo Kokubun, 20, -- have admitted to the charge of property destruction. They told the police that they did not know each other prior to the incident.

"I got too excited," Kokubun was quoted by the police as saying. Kawamura told the police he did it "in the heat of the moment after drinking."

The police believe a total of 15 people, including French and Belgian nationals, were involved in overturning the truck. They said the four arrested were particularly culpable as they were seen standing on the vehicle and damaging it.

I believe this was the final straw that leads to a tighter control in Shibuya around Halloween.

It is unfortunate but kinda necessary. People do stupid things when drunk.

Hello Kitty is adorable however, just how she eats her favorite food, apples, without having a mouth has never been explained.

LOL. However, they give her and others mouths in the cartoon.

Expect more and more of these incidents with the influx of tourists.

From an earlier news article:

The defense also explained that the defendant had only arrived in Japan in 2022 and didn’t know the Japanese word for “robbery” was “goto“. However, the prosecution was skeptical of that, pointing out that the defendant studied Japanese and has Japanese coworkers.

First, the guy is not a tourist. Second, I believe most tourists, like my wife and I, when picking up smells of karosine gas on the street while holidaying in Japan. The action would be "Let's get out of here."rather than trying to be some heroes to save others.

1). Why did he decide to pick up a spade if his intention was merely to warn the resident to escape a possible fire?

From an earlier news article:

Noticing a kerosene tank on the second-floor balcony of a nearby house, as well as the light and sound of someone watching TV on the same floor, he says he climbed up there to warn whoever was inside. He found a small shovel on the balcony and picked it up to either knock on the window or pry it open to get the resident’s attention.

2). Why did he run away after hitting and hurting the resident? He should have just defended himself by blocking the resident's hits or punches and stood his ground, explaining that he was merely trying to help until the cops arrived, rather than being chased and caught by the police. There was just some confusion about what his real intention was.

From the same earlier news article:

The incident occurred at about 11:30 pm on 23 June 2023. According to the defendant’s statements, he was doing some parkour on his way home from a night of drinking, jumping off walls and whatnot in a residential area, when he claims to have picked up a faint smell of gasoline.

He was likely drunk.

Why didn't he just admit to being DRUNK. It works for locals. Just telling the truth is usually better,

"I was drunk and don't remember"...Japanese judges respect that.

Below is from an earlier news article (before the ruling) from the same news outlet:

The incident occurred at about 11:30 pm on 23 June 2023. According to the defendant’s statements, he was doing some parkour on his way home from a night of drinking, jumping off walls and whatnot in a residential area, when he claims to have picked up a faint smell of gasoline.

That guy was mostly likely drunk. Unfortunately, the decided to say he "remembers".

Why didn't he just admit to being DRUNK. It works for locals. Just telling the truth is usually better,

"I was drunk and don't remember"...Japanese judges respect that.

Below is from an earlier news article (before the ruling) from the same news outlet:

The incident occurred at about 11:30 pm on 23 June 2023. According to the defendant’s statements, he was doing some parkour on his way home from a night of drinking, jumping off walls and whatnot in a residential area, when he claims to have picked up a faint smell of gasoline.

That guy was mostly likely drunk. Unfortunately, the decided to say he "remembers".

I don't know of one person who has benefitted in any way from all of these inbound tourists! All it has done is raise prices for the average Taro Suzuki, made lines longer to enter any sightseeing place, and brought a class of tourist who are rude and troublesome.

Also, 40 billion why that is enough for Japan to buy itself a nice new aircraft carrier, or a few more F35's. It might seem like a lot of money, but not quite in reality.

If this is really the case, why would the Japanese government, especially the local governments of many cities in Japan are so hell bend on promoting tourism?

The money that I spent on my trips to Japan goes directly into the pockets of the owners of the local restaurants I visited, the shops and department stores that I shopped etc. Money directly injected into local economies. That is the reason tourism is important to many areas in Japan.

Nuclear energy has the lowest carbon footprint than all energy sources and unlike batteries doesn't need 7 year old African kids digging out lithium from poisonous mines or solar panels with their cadmium, lead and other toxic materials

You are kinda right. Unfortunately, some reader has already pointed out that nowadays it costs billions of dollars to build new reactors and takes relatively long time to build them.

Also r U wiling to have a nuclear plant or a nuclear waste storage facility in the state you are living? Nowadays I think people are more willing to voice their opposition than in the past

That’s really sad. It seems like something that would only happen in a very backward country like China. If my company sent me to China, I wouldn’t bring my family to such a country.

From Wikipedia:

The Ikeda school massacre (sometimes referred to as the Osaka school massacre) was a school stabbing and mass murder that occurred in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, on 8 June 2001. Mamoru Takuma, a 37-year-old ex-convict with a history of mentally disturbed and anti-social behavior, stabbed eight students to death and seriously wounded fifteen others in a knife attack that lasted several minutes. Takuma was sentenced to death in August 2003, and executed in September 2004.

According to your logic japan was a backward country 20 years ago. Is it still backward now?

The police needs to find out whether the attacker is deliberately targeting Japanese student or just any student. Attack on students are not very common in China but it does happen from time to time, usually at kindergartens.

Some recent ones as detailed on Wikipedia, subject is "School attacks in China"

April 2021

On April 29, 2021, a knife-wielding man broke into a school, killing two children and wounding 16 others. The mass stabbing occurred in Beiliu, a city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China. A man with the surname Zeng, aged 24, was apprehended by police. Authorities did not confirm a motive for the attack, but Hong Kong news outlets, including Oriental Daily and Apple Daily, reported that the suspect was going through a divorce and his wife worked at the school.[60]

August 2022

On August 3, 2022, three people were killed and six others wounded in a knife attack at a kindergarten in southeast China's Jiangxi province.[61] The suspect, identified as 48-year-old Liu Xiaohui, fled to a mountainous area in a neighboring county[which?] after the attack, and was arrested 12 hours later.[62]

April 2023

At 5:00 p.m. on April 19, 2023, a mentally unstable student allegedly stabbed seven people at the Qingdao Campus of Shandong University of Science and Technology with a knife, killing one. He was subsequently arrested.[63]

May 2023

On May 14, 2023, a sophomore of the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China allegedly stabbed two of his neighbours to death and severely injured his mother by beating her into a coma. The following day, he went to the Tongzhou campus of his school, where he allegedly stabbed three people, including the vice-principal, who is suspected dead.[64]

July 2023

On July 10, 2023, six people were killed and one wounded in a mass stabbing at a kindergarten in Lianjiang, Guangdong province. The suspect, a 25-year-old man with the surname Wu, was arrested by police.[65]

May 2024

On May 20, 2024, a woman stabbed twelve people with a fruit knife at a primary school in Guixi, Jiangxi, killing two. The suspect, a 45-year-old woman surnamed Pan, was arrested at the scene.[66][67]

From the internet:

The New York Times, citing US officials, says the pagers were tampered with before they reached Lebanon. The small amounts of explosive material were implanted next to the battery in each pager, and a switch was embedded that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives," officials claim.

The death count from the explosions currently stands at 11, with more than 2700 injured. Among the wounded, roughly 400 are reported to be in a critical condition.

It may be not much but a dollar is a dollar. Young people can go overseas to Korea, China, Taiwan etc which should not be too expensive unless they want 5 star travel.

Here in Australia a 10-year validity passport (for persons aged 16 and over) costs you AU$398. Everything is bloody expensive down under, mate.

By reading the articles here, you'd think China would be the first country on earth to collapse. I'm looking at Europe first, courtesy of USA.

I read the article but I do not think China is collapsing. However, everyone, even the CCP itself, knows things are not as rosy as before the pandamic.

Let's say you are right about economies of European countries collapsing. China exports billions of goods to European countries every year. If the economies of those countries collapse, you think there would be no effect on China? China sure does not want that to happen.

Chinese nationalist keeps saying "We do not need the West. Our domestic market is big enough."

Look at Japan. One time it was predicted to take over the world by using its economic might. Good time does not last forever.

@Pukey2

China's economy is not collapsing. However, everyone, including the CCP itself, knows that things are not as rosy as before the pandamic.

Record high youth unemployment, oversupply of real estates, house prices falling etc.

Do you think if the West is struggling, China, who exports billions of dollars of goods to the West, has no effect? The Chinese used to think that their domestic market is huge enough that they did not need the West. Goods time does not last forever.

Companies like Honda and even Tesla are failing because they are not innovating

Car manufacturers are struggling to find first time buyers in China. Many of their sales are people trading in their older models for a new one. No matter how much innovation they have, when people has no money then they just cannot sell.

From the internet:

BEIJING, Sept 9 - Passenger vehicle sales in China fell in August for the fifth straight month, industry data showed on Monday, though sales of all-electric and plug-in hybrid models rose, helped by subsidies for drivers trading in more polluting vehicles.

Sales fell 1.1% from the same month a year earlier to 1.92 million vehicles, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed. That compared with a 3.1% decline in July.

New energy vehicle (NEV) sales, however, jumped 43.2% to account for a record 53.5% of total car sales, as local EV champion BYD set a sales record and U.S. rival Tesla had its best month of 2024.

Car exports increased 24% after a 20% rise in July.

The numbers reflected waning consumer confidence, with first-time car purchases lagging behind trade-ins, the association said last week.

Apart from the rise of BEV and PHEV, things in China are not as rosy as before. Therefore, some car manufacturers are pulling out. I believe Mitsubishi did it last year.

By the way, EV was predicted to be the future but recently it looks it is not the case. Different kinds of vehicles will co-exist together for the near future.

It comes despite Japan welcoming a record influx of foreign visitors, with nearly 18 million tourists entering the country in the first half of 2024.

Is there any reliable survey done on "foreign visitors coming to Japan and climbing Mt. Fuji is on their to do list"? I believe many foreigners loves sight seeing and some can shop and eat till you drop in Japan (my wife and I are among them). However, is climbing Mt. Fuji really that popular among foreign tourists? Maybe the decline is because the measures impacted domestic travellers.

Well. A while ago some Japanese news outlets claims the rice shortage is partly due to the record influx of foreign visitors. Now they says foreign visitors were coming to Japan to overwhelm their beloved mountain. I wonder what is next?

Don't get me wrong. I have been to Japan for more than 8 times since 2009 (next time is Kyushu and Shikoku, then I will have set foot on all four main islands of Japan). I absolutely love Japan and seriously regret not learning Japanese while I was younger. However, linking negative news to foreign tourists without supporting data is a bit rich.

Starbucks still has good vibes. For some going to Starbucks with friends for a good chat is a very enjoyable experience. Sales are down is because many regular customers have less money now which they can spoil on pricy takeaway coffees.

Here down under even McDonald's, which usually does well in a economic downturn, are struggling to attract customers. No money no Starbucks coffee, mate.

If I have a $20 product in my hand and I’m at the counter and I show the cash to the staff, I just walk away with the item in a second.

What if you are purchasing multiple items like going to a super market? Do you take out your phone and sum up the total value of your purchase plus tax and prepare the correct amount of cash in notes and coins before you go to the counter? What is the amount of different notes and coins you need to prepare before hand? I can put 100 items in my trolley. After the staff at the check out scan them all, I use what ever cashless payment I want and pay it in less than 15 seconds. No a second needed for any preparation.

Going cashless is foolish! You are falling right into the “one world government” scenario of the future. Stick with cash. When cashless systems fail, I just grin as I deal in only cash except for large purchases like plane tickets. Everything else….cash only! Do you really want to be watched and controlled? Think long and hard about why “they” want you to go cashless!

You still working or retired. Do you get paid in cash? Do you deposit the cash in a bank or keep it in a money box at your house? If you workplace pay you using electronic transfer it is cashless payment, mate. No escape.

Being watched? Security cameras are everywhere now. You dress as Dark Vader your face when going out?

One world government. I do not mind if it bring peace to the world. The world is seriously fractured now.

Society needs cashless payments like a fish needs a bicycle. If there is any point to it at all, it is to allow total control of all these electronic digits by the people who control the databases. And I cringe every time when I have to wait in line, cash in hand, for some young "cool" people to fiddle endless with their cellphones to make their digital purchases. Congrats Japan to be slow with this insanity.

Really. I do not think you can shop online by paying cash, right? Online shopping can only be done by using cashless payments. Society needs online shopping. My 73 year old dad shop online more than I do. He keeps telling me the amazing good deals he found.

When someone cannot use something probably, it does not mean that thing is crap.

My mum cannot use her smart phone probably, so smart phone sucks, right?

Assuming no late payments and excluding membership fee, if any, is purchasing using a credit card not more expensive than using cash?

Or there is still interest/any charges that need to be paid

Most retailers charges the same for credit card or cash. Some retailers, usually restaurants, charges and extra 0.1% to 0.3% for credit card payment. 1 to 3 cents extra for every $10 spent, we can live with that. Or we would use our bankcard (see below).

Government departments would charge more for credit card payment and payments are bigger so we would use BPay through our bank. No extra charges.

We always fully pay our credit card bill every month so never pay any interest.

Australian credit cards are terrible. Most requires you to pay an annual fee or additional cards, especially those that allows you to earn points for flights. However, there is still some without that and we are using them

By the way, opening a saving accounts with Australian banks you would get a bankcard with wireless pay function. It is not a credit card. You can only spend what you have in your account. Using it would not inclur any extra fee.

Credit cards are not credit. It’s debt!!!!

Only for people with no self control. My wife and I have been using multiple credit cards for over 30 years. We are never in any credit card debt.

I am curious. For those who would only use cash. How much cash do you keep at home? I know Japan is LOW in crime but still things happen. Also there is the risk of earthquake, fire, gas explosion etc. Therefore, I believe people would not withdraw all their money and keep them home. For people who lives in big city like Tokyo and use public transportation, it is very easy to find an ATM to withdraw cash.

I drive to work everyday and taking a detour to an ATM to withdraw cash every week is just too inconvenient to me.

. They want to increase the loss of financial control and speed up those transactions. Stick with cash! You will thank yourself in 30 years time. People always say I’ll save what’s at the end of the month, but that’s so hard when you’re cashless. Pay yourself first, then go for cash.

Thanks for your kind advice. I have very high self control on spending. Not long ago I used my savings to buy a brand new car so using cashless payments is no problem to me.

(I) turn around my backpack (II) take out my mobile (III) unlock it (IV) scroll for app (V) scan (VI) put back my my mobile (VII) zip my backpack, wow, what a advance technology of cashless transaction. sorry the last thing on earth i will do is cashless, cash is king! (I) take out my cash (II) pay (III) leave. Thank you Japan for still using the cash and your banknotes is such an art, it is a shame if we left behind such a delicate and neat banknotes

There is "tap and go" credit card or cash card which U can easily pull out from your wallet and you do not need to count.

delicate and neat banknotes

After changing hands 100 times, are they still delicate and neat.

It is not. Many people, including yourself, often overlook the fact that handling cash also comes with costs.

Handling cash takes longer time and extra manpower so shops, especially supermarkets would need to employ more staff. Unless they install self serve check out machines that allows cash payment. I do not think supermarkets are kind enough to not put the extra cost on their customers.

Age is not really a problem. My 75 year old mum uses her "tap and go" credit card to do all her shoppings. She actually struggles with cash cause she can no longer count properly.

I would like to share something interesting. Some time ago I read an news article about some young Australian are doing almost their banking transactions online or using cash payments but are still going to the ATM to get cash. The reason is they need the cash to buy illegal drugs. Therefore Australia will never become a careless society. LOL.

Also some young people are switching back to cash cause they have no self control on using their credit cards. That is the only way they can manage their spending.