yoshisan88 comments

Ishiba has called for the revitalization of rural regions, where shrinking elderly villages are becoming increasingly isolated.

Recently my YouTube algorithm recommended me a video:

What a small town in Japan is like

https://youtu.be/IiU3Nk16BLQ?si=pHb84L4jORnGg1fY

It is very interesting. I highly recommend watching it.

Not too long ago I watched a video on YouTube.

How Stubbornness killed US steel

https://youtu.be/e_zA1vT464M?si=nwjH6vhnwv3IQt_9

Also read the comments.

I hope people realize that if her lawsuit is wildly successful, the government might simply change the law to require all foreigners to present their card or passport, regardless of whether they live in Japan or not. Thin skinned foreigners who pick pointless fights like this are not doing the rest of us any favors.

A third-generation ethnic Korean resident of Japan on Thursday sued a Tokyo hotel for refusing her a room after she declined to present a passport or residence card at check-in -- identification she was not legally obligated to show.

She is a third generation ethnic Korean resident of Japan who decided to go by her Korean name in her late 20s. She is not a thin skinned foreigner. Read the whole bloody news article before commenting, mate.

Spending by these inbound tourists accounts for under 2 percent of GDP and is concentrated in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, ie, places that don't need it, as opposed to places like Fukushima, Gifu, Wakayama, etc., that get relatively few. Wages tend to be rock-bottom anyway.

If tourism is not that important, why would the Japanese government and many local governments so hellbent on promoting it? All the money I spent on holiday in Japan went directly to the pockets of various businesses. I directly injected money into the local economy.

The tourism boom with its push inflation and crowding out of essential services isn't worth it.

OMG! After blaming foreigners for eating all the rice, they are now being blamed for inflation (Did Japan have an inflation problem before the pandamic when tourist number was high? The weak Yen is the problem!) and crowding out essential services. What is next, breathing all the air?

From another online news article:

Japanese manga creator Tatsuki Ryo urges calm over 5th July earthquake prediction

The manga’s creator, Tatsuki Ryo, addressed the fears directly in a statement to Japanese media, calling for rationality and caution against misinformation. “I have always approached this matter with objectivity,” Ryo stated, adding, “The heightened attention to this prediction shows an increased awareness of disaster preparedness, which I view as a very positive development. I hope this attention translates into specific safety measures and readiness.”

Ryo also emphasised that the interpretation of the manga’s so-called premonitions should be left to individual judgement. However, he urged the public to rely on expert advice rather than allowing themselves to be overly influenced by speculative information. “What’s important is to act appropriately and consult experts,” Ryo observed.

I would think you would be charged with being an accomplice if you help hide the evidence of a crime.

I think if my memory serves me right. From news that I watched many cases the other person would only be charged with improperly dealing or decomposing a dead body. It kinda make sense because the other person did not play any role in the murder. However, you can also say that hiding the evidence of a crime should be treated as an accomplice.

Jay. Do not get too upset, mate. Here is something to cheer you up.

Greens firebrand ousted as leader Adam Bandt faces fight to hold on

The Greens’ historic 2022 election result has been reversed overnight with a wipeout for the minor party and a struggle for leader Adam Bandt.

This time around "inflation is causing a lot of anxiety, especially among younger generations", Yani Karavasilev of the APIR think-tank told AFP.

Young people are willing to pay for things they like. Just look at how well USJ and Disneyland in Japan are doing.

"World Expro" is so outdated.

Terrible news for chicken feet lovers in China.

They don't have the workers to do it. Everything's taking longer than normal, and normal already takes awhile

What I mean "assistance" is money. Government can always find money somewhere to do things they want.

They are going to be fine. The government will provide so called "assistance" to them. Politicians always look after those who vote for them.

“That happens in pachinko parlors a lot too.”

What's wrong with people? I bet it is because they lose money and take their anger out on the machine.

“I’m going to assume he was drunk at the time.”

I was thinking this would be the offender's reason when I saw the title

“I heard that people do this at arcades too. They pour drinks into the games’ coin slots for some reason.”

The reason is "vandalism".

I read something online a while ago that in certain countries, tariff is called import tax. Remember the current US administration is hellbent on improving the government debt situation. You do not need to be an expert to know in order to do that, you cut spending and increase tax. Simple as that.

From the internet:

Fiction, in its simplest form, refers to imaginary or invented stories, characters, or events, as opposed to factual or real-world accounts. It's a creative and imaginative form of storytelling, often used for entertainment or to explore different perspectives and ideas. 

The game is fiction, not a documentary, I do not know what all the fuss is about.

Where's Japanese brand? Oh Japan is currently declining that's why.

Uniqlo is doing well in Asia. Also there is a total of 39 stores in Australia. Here in Southeast Queensland they have 6 stores. Not bad I would say.

From the news article:

The announcement came days after thousands of United fans marched in protest against the club’s ownership in the face of cost cuts, ticket price increases and ongoing failure on the field.

United endured its worst-ever Premier League season last year and is on course to set a new low this term, with the team currently languishing in 14th position.

FYI:

MU is playing in the The UEFA Europa League. It is the second-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Conference League.

Seriously, I cannot believe they would announce this. Maybe they are trying to distract people from talking about the club's cost cutting measures and the lower than low results.

I am more interested in how the letter was created, signed and got delivered.

Many of the submitted works "were created using AI models that are known to be trained on copyrighted work without a license," it says.

Is this "immitation"? I am not an art lover so is "immitation" artwork legit or not?

Didn't see the movie, but Captain America always makes me giggle a little bit. It is such a super American thing. I can't imagine anyone in any other country creating a similar superhero. Can you image Captain Finland or Captain Thailand? But somehow because it is America it works.

Me, too. However, my reason is sometimes Captain America's uniform has a letter 'A' on his forehead. Yes it stands for 'America' but there is also a word which people always uses to insult others starts with the letter 'A', too.

I cannot help but laugh when I think about 'Captain Axxxxxe'.

From another news article:

Yann LeCun, Chief AI Scientist at Meta, weighed in on the subject in a now viral LinkedIn 

To people who see the performance of DeepSeek and think: ‘China is surpassing the US in AI.’ You are reading this wrong. The correct reading is: ‘Open source models are surpassing proprietary ones.’ DeepSeek has profited from open research and open source (e.g., PyTorch and Llama from Meta). They came up with new ideas and built them on top of other people’s work. Because their work is published and open source, everyone can profit from it. That is the power of open research and open source.”

LeCun advocates for the catalytic, transformative potential of open-source AI models, in full alignment with Meta’s decision to make Llama open.

Under the new system, the rates will be split into five tiers, with the highest amount being 10,000 yen per night for accommodation costing 100,000 yen or more per night. The city aims to introduce the new taxes in the spring of 2026.

The 200 yen minimum will remain unchanged, but the threshold will be narrowed from less than 20,000 yen per night to less than 6,000 yen per night.

If someone can afford to pay 100,000 yen or more per night for accommodation, an extra 10,000 is likely to be small change to them.

What does the "K" stand for?

https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/yokohama-is-getting-the-worlds-largest-dedicated-music-arena-122421

The Greater Tokyo region has seen a lot of new openings these days. There’s the Tokyo Midtown Yaesu right across from Tokyo Station as well as a gleaming skyscraper in Shinjuku called the Tokyu Kabukicho Tower, just to name a few. Adding to this list of new attractions is the K Arena Yokohama. The luxury real estate company Ken Corporation that’s responsible for this property says it is the largest purpose-built music venue in the world.

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".