Abe234 comments

India has no right to carry out development in the area China calls South Tibet, China's Foreign Ministry.

Would this be the very same China building islands in the South China Sea, in contradiction of international law, and after losing an international court case?

Would this be the very same China that took Tibet?

The very same China laying claims to some of Japan's sea?

I propose that the international community scrap the ONE CHINA POLICY, and rename it the "ONE TAIWAN POLICY". That means China may join Taiwan if it becomes a democracy, and if Taiwan has a referendum, NOT ON INDEPENDENCE, but on reunification. That a) doesn't say they are breaking away, keeping the current situation, and b) says, Taiwan gets to choose.

I am so glad we have finally woken up to the giant panda we have created cause we wanted cheap garbage. Now China has become a powerhouse. Since when did we want to be friends with communists? When the US saw dollar signs.

BigPToday  09:36 am JST

16 year old girl out at 2am? Someone slap the parents.

Totally!

16 year old girl. And I still have a hard time calling a 19 year old male a man. Still kids! Legally an adult in reality still a stupid young kid.

You need to offer more than just earthquake training. Advertise for recruits on the TV, Radio, internet highlighting trades, skills, and personal benefits. Increase relationships with allies. Eg try and set up places /postings in other countries. One great reason to join up is seeing the world. Six month posting to train in the US, Canada. Australia, UK, Not just signing but of paper for business co-operation. Obviously the navy get to travel but setting up a base with allies eg US, could encourage younger people to join up. Certainly not gonna solve it, but it’s all about meeting the needs of new generation. Highlight professional qualifications eg medical fields, electronics, drivers, computer experts, clerks, mechanics, cooks, all jobs done by soldiers. Telling young people you don’t have to go to uni, or become a salary man,you don’t have to get a part time job, you can have a career. Tell them about the friends they’ll make for life, the sports, adventure training. Not to mention the ability to be independent from mum and dad. Maybe even point out after so many years you could get help to go to college if you so wish. They aren’t interested in it because they don’t see much more than what’s on the news. Knew a young man who joined the Japanese Navy, and another as a helicopter pilot. Kudos to them.

Two well brought up characters, indeed. My goodness, how very, very cruel. Shameful.

*0**( +2 / -2 )*

what’s even more shameful or disgusting is that 2 (insert colorful language) people actually down voted your comment. Probably the very same kind of people that thought it’s just a giggle. I respect your restraint!

What they want is for him to die and then say “shoganai”.

Pukey2July 3  09:55 pm JST

Abe234:

Nothing good ever comes from getting into debt with China. You’ll have to hand over more than just interest.

Pukey

Sri Lanka owed 10% of its debts to China. Guess who they owed another 10% to? Yes, Japan. The rest was owed to a combination of western and Japanese corporations and governments. Some countries actually borrow from China to pay off their debts because China offers lower interest rates and better deals. But don't let that ruin your biases.

dont worry it won’t ruin it because many other countries who took out loans understand that these debts come with strings attached.

China is the largest bilateral creditor to Sri Lanka, which in May 2022 became the first Asian lower-middle income country to default on its sovereign debt in two decades. Chinese loans had financed a string of large infrastructure projects, including highways, an airport and a port in the country. Sadly China is the biggest single lender to Sri Lank. 4.9 billion. It maybe 10% of what you say but that appears to be more than what they owe other countries. Individually.

ill leave a link.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/sri-lankas-economic-crisis-debt-deal-with-bilateral-creditors-2024-06-26/#:~:text=SRI%20LANKA'S%20CREDITORS&text=The%20Export%2DImport%20Bank%20of,group%2C%20was%20owed%20%242.68%20billion.

Stock markets aren’t the real economy!

and the only ones who can benefit are if people can AFFORD to invest.If you can’t afford it, your paying your money to the investors in the fake belief paying 5000 yen a month will somehow transform you life in 40 years.(especially in the nikkei 225. Now companies , sorry shareholders,will squeeze those bonuses, so they get the dividends (let’s just rename it bonus) and your bonuses get reduced over the future years. I believe if A company has eg 100 dollars it can either pay the worker a decent salary , who can improve their life or spend it on their kids/family,or the company can give it to the shareholder machine. The shareholder machine will not help Mr and Mrs Honda. It’s all gotta sit there for 45years. By that time you’re too old or too sick to really enjoy it. Some will but most won’t. The proof is, the nikkei 225 is at it’s highest and yet how’s our hourly pay. Still poop!

Nothing good ever comes from getting into debt with China. You’ll have to hand over more than just interest.

Pitty they don’t have points for drivers of cars who don’t put seatbelts on their kids. They’d get tons of points sitting outside a kindergarten. Maybe even millions of points.

When you got a few bad boys on the block the neighbors have to work together. Russia, China, and North Korea are those neighbors who want to disturb the neighborhood.

Still Russian, still Belarussian no matter what it appears like. Still playing for your country. Goes for the Chinese cheaters too. Heart medication doesn’t fall into food at a hotel. Once a cheat always a cheat.

One things for sure, who will own the gene code, and more importantly, what will they do with it? Sell it to insurance companies? Will all the people using genetic tests for fun and interest as part of knowing where they came from be swept up in all this? Companies aren’t always there to do the moral thing. There is awesome potential for this tech. But just as insurance companies discriminated against people’s life styles in the 80s, 90s they could (if not legislated against) use our genetic to either deny coverage or refuse a claim.

on top of that there is the risk of them identifying a cure for certain disease based on your genetics, we as individuals are supposed to give up things for the greater good of society “freely” but The same cannot be said about a company. The cells donated by Henrietta Lacks are still used to this day 90 years later in medical research all over the world and commercially sold. She never received a cent for her part in the research.So yes it’s great but we need legislation to protect people.

TriringToday  02:54 pm JST

There is no way Japan could ever pay those interest rates. Especially if the debt was held by other countries. Most of the debt is held here. But I did read if Japan were to sell its assets,(whatever those are) that could reduce the debt to 140% of GDP. We must expect higher taxes either via the pay packet, sales tax or city tax. I also expect more immigration to happen stealthily, because again they’re younger, healthier and more likely to pay more tax than use tax services.

You do understand that debt is only half of the balance sheet. There is also credit and asset on the other side in which Japan hold a tremendous amount. Japan is not the world largest institutional investor of US treasury bonds for nothing you know.

yes I do understand that debt of half the balance sheet. That’s why I mentioned selling off assets to reduce the nations debt. I suppose a bond/treasury could be classed as an asset if you can sell it. However I suppose Japan earns more from holding US debt and could actually use that to pay off the Japanese debt as its interest rate is lower than what they make from US bonds.

Especially when those payments are repatriated back into yen.

Selling of dogs by pet shops should be banned. I guess the lucky ones get bought, but what happens to the one that don't meet the "cuuuuuuuuute" measure in Japan? It's never mentioned or shown in TV shows. I wonder how many more he has killed. I don't think this was the first time either. AUCTIONS? Japan really shocks me at times.

commanteerToday  07:59 am JST

Japan needs to offer the same 3-5% 6-month treasury notes as the USD

The national debt to GDP is already among the highest in the world. Higher interest rates would crush them - the only way they could pay would be by printing currency all day long. (Which it looks like the US is doing.) Also, as mentioned, that would immediately collapse the yen carry trade, which is financing a massive amount of investments worldwide. If those carry trades were ended suddenly, we would see a global stock market crash.

There is no way Japan could ever pay those interest rates. Especially if the debt was held by other countries. Most of the debt is held here. But I did read if Japan were to sell its assets,(whatever those are) that could reduce the debt to 140% of GDP. We must expect higher taxes either via the pay packet, sales tax or city tax. I also expect more immigration to happen stealthily, because again they’re younger, healthier and more likely to pay more tax than use tax services.

one question I have is, if this is so bad now, why were things so good before the plaza accord when 1 dollar was 240 yen, compared to todays 1 dollar is 160. We still had to import oils, gas, and foods and export cars, machines, chips etc. Have we just chased cheaper goods made by cheap labour in China, where China got all the benefits and basically exported factory jobs there? And we’ve basically hollowed out our own economy?

Today’s life expectancy is 84 years old in Japan and the two biggest reasons for that are 1) clean water and sewage treatment. 2) vaccines. Other reasons include better treatments for other chronic conditions.

BanthuToday  06:52 am JST

Even healthy, fit people need recommended vaccines to stay healthy and live well.

Thanks for the tip, but I'll pass and stick with natural immunity instead.

this goes for polio too? Rabies? Measles? And accept the idea you may be disabled or get the virus and unknowingly pass it on to others, eg babies and pregnant women. So nice of you! I’m all right Jack. As you accept the protection everyone else gives YOU via the herd immunity. You have the privilege of never knowing anyone who’s died of flu, polio, measles, diphtheria. The modes should be cutting these people out. The mods will slam anyone who criticizes Japan today or a thread goes crazy about trump. But won’t cut out the antivaxers nonsense.

JJEToday  01:11 pm JST

If Taiwan wasn't a part of China, what on earth was it part of then?

you need to go back further in time. But then again. Latvia, Estonia,Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, you can add to the list, all wanted to leave the USSR. The best thing the UN ever did as a charter was for every country to be a member of the UN, it had to settle its borders. Biggest mistake by the US was to accept the one China policy. Just imagine th rage if Russia said they wanted Alaska back cause they got done over.

I propose Taiwan doesn’t have a referendum on independence but actually flip it and have a referendum on JOINING CHINA. That way, it’s a clear option to keep the status quo. It would send a clear message to the CCP. But a referendum has its problems too.

Any chance of an E cub?

It's such a shame. If you're so desperate, please drop them off at a hospital, police station, pharmacy, or anywhere, where someone will find them. She felt she couldn't speak to someone, no midwife, doctor, or boyfriend.( he's part of the problem too) So I am not going to rain on her. Media, schools, etc need to tell young girls, so that when they become adults where there is help. I guess the young man gets to walk away guilt-free. Hospitals in every town could have an open door for any person to go to, either to leave their baby or to get help. It would need the city mayors, and councillors to step up to the plate. My guess is, they will say IT'S A PITTY. and move on.

There is another way to reduce the national debt. Make all the pensioners work until 67,68,69+++.(I think it’ll come) Another way is to sell off all the national assets. Japan probably borrowed billions of yen to invest getting a return of say 5% compared to the Japan interest rate of what was 0%. Then repatriate those returns. (Those would be the assets).or sell them off. That could reduce the debt amount as a % of GDP.

Japan's problem is low wages, which is due almost exclusively to the private sector, which is raking in its highest profits in history.

That’s another way of saying NO INFLATION. Since salary is a large push on inflation. The problem is the country spending more than want to has. Pushing up salary doesn’t really reduce debt except in the magic way of using inflation to wish it away over the decades. It’s like working for 1 dollar in the 70s and today paying off your debt with the 15 dollars today. Appears easy. But the governments just use it as an excuse to BORROW MORE. So today’s 1000 yen per hour will be replaced with 3000 yen an hour in 30 years. But You can’t buy any more with it. It just allows us to pay off the debt we took on 30 years previously. For the average Suzuki that’s the mortgage.

Maybe as you said tax the profits a bit more, which is part of the solution, but not all. But the bonus system helps keep the salary low. Why pay more per hour when you can always cut bonuses or increase them at a whim.

"steadily" reducing the nation's debt, which is more than double the size of the economy.

your reducing debt , your trying to get inflation to reduce the value of the debt over the years as a % of GDP. Every country says “o’mg debt is so terrible” and it is. But don’t kid ourselves politicians just say that for the voters. Seriously , how often has say the UK, France Germany, Canada etc ever been debt free, apart from the one year some will point to. I can see only a few ways. A) use inflation B) increase taxes C) Use the weak yen to increase exports more, D) increase immigration as they’ll spend for the next 40 years. E) Make cuts to police, fire departments, military, health care, schools,etc Nobody is going to increase the birth rate in the next 10 years. And you ignored the warning lights 50 years ago when it started.

He may have a point! Everything is unbelievable, awesome a hack, a super kid, ultra this, life changing, or doom, gloom, global warming, war, war and more war. Decades of Afghanistan,Iraq, then Syria, then Ukraine, then Isreal Gaza. Not to mention the crazy US president from the past. Murder this, murder that. It’s non stop! The news then say theirs a mental health pandemic…… heck! Maybe the news is part of the problem! Then there are the junk 30 second junk clips. When we watched a show back in the day, we wondered at a magician, we watched the news, and then moved on. We are a slave to the algorithm, and if you search one bad thing, it’ll feed you more bad stuff. Search climate change and I’m flooded with climate change junk and that’s before we even get to the transgender pronoun stuff. I’d rather the algorithms were cut off and hopefully the good stuff can rise up. I might have to tune into Mr beast. I heard he does good stuff.

Kudos Nissan!

I guess live and let live. As long as they are happy. Still weird hearing “she used her sperm”. But this is about legality around inheritance and being recognized as a “parent”. And I think the real take away is about being recognized as a parent. We used to have all these arguments over gay parenting decades ago, and nobody bats an eyelid now. Probably cause it’s nothing to do with 99%of the population and we really don’t care.( apart from the news cycle looking to hype something) Kids will still love their parents. As long as they aren’t being abused. Good luck!

IllyasToday  07:32 am JST

Nature contains things that, for some people, look 'unnatural,' and that is natural.

What about being dismayed and put off by this stuff at a gut level? Do you accept that as natural too?

I don’t think it’s really our business so long as they are ok with it. It’s between them, their doctor, and the law. Personal feelings haven’t much to do with this case. It’s not really going to impact my life or yours.

GuruMickToday  10:05 am JST

I also doubt it would have been used against a white target like Berlin.

really? And how would you come to that conclusion? The Allie’s policy was Germany first as Churchill also wanted to end the war in Europe and it was supposed to be used on Germany. Especially since everyone knew Germany had its own nuclear program. The Russians were also begging for a second front before the Allie’s were ready because they took, the most casualties and did most of the fighting. So I have now doubt it would have been used on Germany. Especially since Russia had lost 20+ million people. It just so happened that Germany surrendered. Churchill negotiated with Roosevelt that Germany must be defeated first before the Allie’s turned to Japan. And Russia said they would support that.

These aren't benefits. These are things we pay for. Benefits makes it sound like we are scroungers. Like unemployment benefit. This is help while we are (insert what help we get from the government).However we have paid for all this stuff via different kids of taxation. It is something we have paid for, before we had kids and after our kids have grown up and left the nest.

He had nothing to apologize for. The Germans and the Japanese were nothing trying to build the same bomb. While awful, he probably saved more Japanese and Americans and Russians if the war had continued, compared to the casualties of a full scale invasion coming down from Hokkaido by the Russians which would have divided Japan, and from the south by the Americans. More people died in the Tokyo air raids. I won’t sit here, looking back in hindsight, and judge these men. What would you do if you could end the war in 7 days? Continue for months on? Watch even more die? Are you happy for the men who fought for you to die? He may apologize but I think he saved way more lives. The Russians lost 8.7 million soldiers. American dead 400,000 thousand. How many more would have died if Russian and America launched a full scale invasion. But I respect the man for apologizing as he understands the impact it had. I guess Japan, Germany at Al learnt something sadly today’s dictators want to repeat the same mistakes.

EdToday  12:12 pm JST

Weak Yen = too many tourists.

Strong Yen = less tourists and better for the Japanese people.

Simple equations...

Totally spot on.Only thing is politicians/businesses want to have their cake and eat it. Some businesses love the weak yen, eg hotels, museums, and theatres, while others can't take the pain, importers. Then it flips and the ones who were unhappy with the weak yen are happy with the strong yen. But even the public wants to have their cake and eat it too. Don't want too many visitors but they(paying customers) also don't want to pay more to support those companies. Better for the Japanese people? As a whole? or for some people? I think it depends on the company Japanese people work for, and where. Especially for those who work in the hospitality industry, airlines, taxi drivers, public services get an income boost too. It's not, one is good or one is bad. They both have their good and bad points. As the world gets richer, and more people can afford to travel, I guess we will have to manage things. It's much more nuanced than that.