Asiaman7 comments

Japan has set a target of raising its annual defense outlays gradually to reach about 2 percent of gross domestic product in fiscal 2027

The amount of unused funds in the defense budget has remained above 110 billion yen for three consecutive years through fiscal 2020.

Seems wasteful to continually increase the defense budget to some arbitrary goal — i.e., 2% of GDP — when the budget hasn’t been fully spent every year since 2020.

without an easing off of price rises it's hard to see real wages turning positive

Declining for a record 26th straight month. That’s absurd!

Wage increases for the 16.5% of employees who belong to unions mean nothing for the other 83.5% who continue to endure trivial or no wage increases while battling surging price increases.

Sources or complete nonsense.

Slap! Looks like a mighty reputable source!

“a walloping that mercifully lasted only 58 minutes.” — Reuters 

—

Naomi Osaka's goal to improve her grasscourt game will have to wait for at least another 12 months after her Wimbledon comeback stalled in the second round following a 6-4 6-1 walloping by American Emma Navarro that mercifully lasted only 58 minutes.

When the four-times Grand Slam champion returned to the tour in January following a 15-month maternity break, top of her wish list was to "do much better on clay and grass".

Unfortunately for the Japanese superstar, she failed to match even her career-best third-round showings at the French Open and now at Wimbledon.

—

https://www.reuters.com/sports/tennis/osakas-wimbledon-comeback-ended-by-on-fire-navarro-2024-07-03/

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, also known as Rengo, said its final tally of the results of pay negotiations from over 5,000 member unions

For only the 16.5% of the nation’s employees who belong to unions while all workers are approaching a 26th straight month of real wage decline during which inflation exceeds wage growth.

The plaintiff in the Sendai lawsuit also wanted an official apology from the Japanese government, according to an essay at nippon.com (link below).

I wonder if she’ll get that?

—

[Excerpt]

For decades, the government routinely infringed the basic rights of people with mental illnesses and disabilities, and for years since then the victims and their families have been ignored and silenced. These facts speak for themselves, and point unmistakably to serious shortcomings in Japanese society. Particularly distressing is the way in which politicians, bureaucrats, the media, and academia all allowed their intellectual, imaginative, and empathetic faculties to become so blunted that they lost their sense of social justice and fairness. I conclude this essay with a deep feeling of remorse. I hope the lessons of the past will ensure that similar mistakes are never repeated in the future. 

— Yonemoto Shōhei, Visiting Professor at the Komaba Organization for Education Excellence, University of Tokyo, and the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature.

https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00421/

… aged just 12.

*Her journey to the Olympics has been riddled with injuries, not unusual in such a high-risk sport, that sometimes kept her off her board for months at a time.*

"I hurt myself and had to take a break for around four to six months," she said.

12 years old “riddled with injuries.”

Should there be a higher minimum age requirement to participate in the Olympics? 

Advocates suggest the pressure can be too excessive for a young teen, particularly in countries that place so much emphasis on achieving Gold.

Critics of a higher age suggest that it would have a disproportionate impact on smaller nations with fewer athletes.

The youngest Olympian at Tokyo 2020 was a Syrian table tennis player who competed at the age of 12.

The International Gymnastics Federation is among the governing bodies to have an age limit in place for the Olympic Games. Gymnasts must be at least 16 years of age, or turning 16 within the calendar year, to participate.

Additionally, the International Skating Union (ISU) has voted to raise the minimum age for skaters to 17 from the 2024-25 season onwards, in time for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

In 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board advised international federations to make appropriate adjustments to their minimum age regulations.

But for most sports and countries, the minimum age remains 13.

Give Trump the maximum of four years of prison. According to Reuters, “Judges often look favorably on people who admit culpability and express remorse.” Trump has shown none.

Fighto!

What's the old saying - "If you're good enough, you're old enough".

We can thus assume that you would favor eliminating the minimum ages of 16 and 17 implemented by the International Gymnastics Federation and International Skating Union, respectively.

Not sure that’s the best path forward.

International competitions are regularly won by young skaters but the ages of Japan's medallists at the Tokyo Games were eye-catching by any standard.

Kokona Hiraki took silver in the women's park competition at the age of 12, while women's street gold medallist Momiji Nishiya was 13.

Japan will head to Paris with another fresh-faced squad featuring a pair of 14-year-olds

12, 13, and 14 year olds? Should there be a higher minimum age requirement to participate in the Olympics? 

Advocates suggest the pressure can be too excessive for a young teen, particularly in countries that place so much emphasis on achieving Gold.

Critics of a higher age suggest that it would have a disproportionate impact on smaller nations with fewer athletes.

The youngest Olympian at Tokyo 2020 was a Syrian table tennis player who competed at the age of 12.

The International Gymnastics Federation is among the governing bodies to have an age limit in place for the Olympic Games. Gymnasts must be at least 16 years of age, or turning 16 within the calendar year, to participate.

Additionally, the International Skating Union (ISU) has voted to raise the minimum age for skaters to 17 from the 2024-25 season onwards, in time for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

In 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board advised international federations to make appropriate adjustments to their minimum age regulations.

But for most sports and countries, the minimum age remains 13.

A record high 3,575 applications were filed for workers' compensation coverage related to mental disorders, marking an increase of 892 from the previous year, with 34.2 percent of them deemed eligible.

So nearly 66% of workers' compensation claims related to mental disorders were apparently denied. I am curious to know more about those claims and the reasons for denying them.

Couldn’t they have issued a warning first?

Democrats and President Biden must take ownership of their role in assisting Trump’s candidacy. 

They allowed us to get to this critical point where the nation has realized that Biden is far too frail for the job. 

So, now what? Biden must withdraw.

And then? Convention Democrats would likely rally around California Governor Gavin Newsom, if he wanted the candidacy. However, he rightly seems to favor his current job as governor. Or does he?

Who else? Vice President Kamala Harris. But she doesn’t poll well. In an NBC News poll in February, 42% said they hold a "very negative" view of Harris. Only 28% said they hold a "very positive" or "somewhat positive" view of her.

It’s a giant mess.

Shannon Osaka had a fascinating article in 26 June’s “Washington Post” examining how cleaner air is resulting in faster global warming.

Scientists seem to be in agreement that this is occurring, but no one is certain of the intensity of the impact.

Excerpt for those who might be interested in reading more …

—

Tiny particles from the combustion of coal, oil and gas can reflect sunlight and spur the formation of clouds, shading the planet from the sun’s rays. Since the 1980s, those particles have offset between 40 and 80 percent of the warming caused by greenhouse gases.

And now, as society cleans up pollution, that cooling effect is waning. New regulations have cut the amount of sulfur aerosols from global shipping traffic across the oceans; China, fighting its own air pollution problem, has slashed sulfur pollution dramatically in the last decade.

The result is even warmer temperatures - but exactly how much warmer is still under debate.

—

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ve-accidentally-cooling-planet-stop-180738974.html

I have a my number card since minimum 8 years.

Robert, you are writing about the old paper-version of the My Number card, which has become obsolete. The much-more-useful digital version overseen by Kono was introduced in 2021.

Suspects can be detained for up to 23 days per charge, re-arrests are common and bail requests are often denied 

Prosecutors may also interrogate a detainee without a lawyer during the 23-day period.

The 80-year-old publishing mogul was released on bail in April last year after more than seven months in detention.

I guess this 23-day interrogation without an attorney can run consecutively per additional charge, thus continuing for many months, which is simply inhumane for an 80-year-old wheelchair-bound man or even a 20-year-old healthy woman.

@Meiyouwenti

The Kono family owns a business with close ties with China. 

If Kono owns businesses with “close ties with China,” in your eyes making him unsuitable for the PM position, wouldn’t the LDP have realized that fact already and not put him in charge of overseeing the nation’s data?

I hope the “My Number” rollout isn’t a preview of what a Konno-led government would look like.

I hope it is.

Only two years after its introduction (2023), approximately 91.36 million My Number cards had been issued, covering about 72.8% of all citizens in Japan.

Starting in 2025, My Number cards will be available in Apple Wallet.

Who else in the Japanese Cabinet is getting these things done?

If Kono, 61, runs, it would be a rare case of a minister challenging an incumbent head of the Cabinet in the ruling party's presidential election.

Finally, a sensible human being not afraid of next-generation advancements.

We most certainly don’t need the gaffe-prone, backward-thinking Yoko Kamikawa (“How can we women call ourselves women without giving birth.”).

Kono’s not afraid to be his own forward-thinking man. In fact, he’s about as close to an Obama-like transition that Japan can get at the moment.

And his decision to challenge Kishida and the establishment definitely shows he’s got balls!

81 percent of respondents to a recent Asahi Shimbun survey indicated they have no intention of attending the expo. Excerpt below.

—

Even among locals in Osaka, only 38 percent expressed interest in attending, while 62 percent remained uninterested.

The high cost of admission is cited as the primary reason for disinterest.

“The tickets are simply too expensive,” remarked a 50-year-old female respondent from Osaka Prefecture. “This isn’t a commercial theme park; they need to consider the average person’s budget.”

“I’d like to go if I could afford it, but it’s just not possible,” said a 61-year-old woman from Tokyo.

Some respondents feel obligated to attend the expo to justify the significant public investment.

“I’ve come to think that I should go and enjoy myself in order to make the most of the huge amount of public money, including my own taxes, that has been invested,” said a 59-year-old woman from Shiga Prefecture.

Regardless of whether they plan to attend or not, 86 percent of respondents expressed their disapproval of holding the expo using public funds.

The lack of enthusiasm is attributed to a general decline in public interest in expos, with many labeling them as outdated and irrelevant.

A 59-year-old woman from Tokyo added, “Do they think we’ll go back to the high-growth era if we just keep repeating the cycle of Tokyo Olympics, Osaka Expo and Sapporo Olympics? It’s pathetic that their mindset is stuck in the Showa Era (1926-1989).”

—

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15300992

@OssanAmerica

Many people who advocate joint custody disregard this crucial aspect. 

Advocates of joint custody disregard … the need for parents to work together???

What an absurd comment!

@TaiwanIsNotChina

Yes, yes. Someone is going to plan an event for the 4th of July, too.

You seem excited.

Do we really need a comment projecting such a horrific event for your apparent entertainment?

I think not.

All foreigners that I know of who already held valid D/Ls from their home country simply took the 外免切替 (conversion of foreign D/L).

It all depends on where the foreign license was issued.

—

https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/multilingual/english/traffic_safety/drivers_licenses/index.files/En_2403.pdf

—

You are not required to take a knowledge test and a driving skills test if your license was issued by the authorities in the following countries and a region.

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The United Kingdom, The United States of America (States of Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia and Washington only), and Taiwan

You are not required to take a driving skills test if your license was issued by the authorities in the following country.

The United States of America (State of Indiana only)

In 1970 it was JY360=USD1.00.

In 1985 it was JY245 = USD1.00.

In 1995 it was JY100 =USD1.00.

In late 2011/early 2012 it was JY70=USD1.00

@Fighto!, Before the 1971 “Nixon Shock” and for two years after the 1985 Plaza Accord, agreements were in place among nations to actively manipulate exchange rates, including the yen.

Currently, such agreements don’t appear to exist, so comparing historical exchange rates from those times with today is absolutely absurd because the fundamentals wildly differ.

Sorry, Kamikawa’s words were, “How can we women call ourselves women without giving birth.”

Perhaps Kamikawa might do okay

Kamikawa? That’s insane, @Fighto!

She’s still part of the old boys network. Remember her infamous words: “We women can call ourselves women without giving birth.”

She’s just as bad as all those senior out-of-touch LDP men.

Prime Minister Kishida’s policies have failed. We’re nearing 26 consecutive months of inflation-adjusted real-wage decline as higher living costs have outweighed pay raises. Over the last three years, the yen has lost more than one-third of its value.

How has the Kishida administration and his LDP comrades responded? Another stimulus payment, this time in the form of a 40,000 yen/person tax cut, and more money to unproven methods to increase the birth rate, the very same measures that have failed to generate any positive results over the past decade.

The LDP needs not only new leadership but also a new supporting cast without the influence of the likes of Aso and Suga.

Shohei Ohtani homered for the second straight game

Ohtani’s playing well. He’s only 5 HRs behind Aaron Judge.

“What starts with a tingle of excitement, is followed by a surge of activity, frantic yelling and empty promises, but is quickly spent, leaving you feeling just as empty and unfulfilled as before? Answer: A Japanese election.” —

Colin P.A. Jones, “Electoral dysfunction leaves Japan's voters feeling impotent”

Not once in Japan have I ever seen (in decades) a political candidate canvassing door to door.

A handful of the many electoral restrictions:

No door-to-door house visits. 

Candidates can speak only in certain public areas, such as outside busy train stations, and the campaigning cannot exceed 45 minutes.

The number of pamphlets each candidate can distribute is restricted.

Election posters can be displayed only in specified places and may not exceed a certain size.