Seawolf comments

Seems we now see one positive aspect of the foreign yen:long-therm investment by Japanese and international companies. Of course the little consumer doesn't reap any benefits from this, same as from a rising Topix or whatever index...

WoodyLee, excactly. Seems to me they only did it because the older ones were swept out 20 years earlier, in 2004, so we have to keep it that way. Not only seems it very unneccessary during these hard times to burden small shops with the high costs of swapping out machines (no financial aid by the government? I guess they don't want to admit their bad timing), but it seems to be very rushed through with even those businesses that want to stay ahead, not being able to do it in time bc the companies that do this job are just overwhelmed!

What I am really missing from this article, and the comments, is: How necessary is it to have new notes right now? I don't remember any news from the near past about fake money in big scale, save the clumsy home-copied ones. Small eating joints that use ticket machines bc of staff shortages and sanitary reasons already have to cope with steadily rising costs for all raw materials now have to spend a lot of money just to get new machines. "Upgrading" is very easy to say, but looking at news shows, it just aint that easy. More like throwing out the old ones on the "Sodai-gomi", and buy shiny brandnew ones...on top of that, the factories producing these ticket machines have to work overtime just bc the Almighty Bank of Japan decides to push that new money out now rather than half a year later...

You already lost me at "air taxis zipping above the Sumida river, famed for its scenic bridges". First, as mentioned above, it will be a long time in the future until 'copters of any size would fly above heavy traffic roads. Second, I don't remember any scenic bridges on that smelly brack water only concrete walls!

Well, I don't remember much sexualized content...Violent, or rather, blood/gore, definitely ;-)

After that pic I thought that 335 person died on Mt Fuji alone, luckily I was wrong!

Oookay, had a look at that website "no cancelation"...how many people will now go up and get in trouble despite bad weather warning bc they can't cancel neither the trail nor the hut and next weekend is allready fully booked etc?

Would have loved to hear what the temple is usually doing with all these cats left at their premises since they are " sacred items". Usually these type of good-luck things get burned/disposed of once a year in a ritual-like fire etc. But with that many, I doubt the temple has enough storage space for all of them. With this in mind, it really starts to sound suspiciously like they want to resell these cats...

Have you not noticed the fruitcakes who are actually running the country?

"The Gutless Fruitcakes"...could be a name for a punk group. Or the name of a new "fringe-sounding but very mainstream" Party in Tokyo. Subtitle would be "New leaders of the sheeples" ;-)

Like most others my bets were on the Yaks...but surely they would have only killed one of them, or kidnapped the daughter. Sekine probably thought by giving out lots of money the other guys would do a propper job of letting the bodies dissapear and not have the police find them this fast.

@OssanAmerica

Might depend on the prefecture. Here in Nagano hunting goes until middle of March. As I love to roam the bear-free mountains in winter I always check with our town office about hunting areas beforehand bc they change from year to year

Peter Pan? Maybe show it how it really was: Peter Pan is into little boys, and kills them off when they get too old?!

Damnit, one of the few trails that are "easy" (not too technical) and without bears, making them great for night climbs, and they are going to close them...

2000 Yen isn't that expensive, also I wonder where it will be collected, 6th station? Bc many tourists just go for a stroll from the Base Station. And I would expect a bit more openess about how that money will be spend. But what really gets me going are those TV "news variety", who seemingly hunt down the most crazy foreigners to give the impression it's only the Gaijin that are a problem and liability, when in reality many more Japanese have similar distress, either bc of in-experience, or bc they are too old, but stubbornly go ahead until they break down....

It also would be nice to try to advertise tours with views of Mt Fuji, or the Zero - Fuji trail, which would be much more interesting for hikers than using the overcrowded route.

 7 years since the alleged abuse and only through a weekly rag. All it takes is pointing a finger now a days!

New to Japan? Those weekly magazines are the only type independent enough to run these kind of stories. TV channels rely way too much on "talent agencies" to publish anything negative - unless it got something to do with drugs. And 7 years...surprise, but for some victims it takes that long to speak to anybody about it esp when it involves a powerful figure, and that is the same in every country.

...meanwhile here in Japan, about every news regarding crime mentions "street surveilance cameras" in some form or the other. Which makes me think that they use very similar tec but as to not upset the general public, will release only positve outcomes, and scaled down, rather grainy video with it. And while I'm all for it, the above mentioned "Who guards the guards?" is even more frightening in Japan with lethargic citizens and media being the norm.

So that old man was out in the streets from 9 pm till 4 am? That driver could have gotten away with way less if he had just reported the accident, but he might have had a drink before and panicked...

Accidents happen, even in times of peace. But shouldn't an aircraft built for war be able to make at least a controlled descent with one engine still running?

Just saw in the news that Japan's GDP (GOP?) has been overtaken by Germany! Their population is 2/3 of Japan, they grapple with immigration, wars in the east, strong Euro....but still manage a higher output! Looks this country will become one huge amusement park for foreigners.

Saw this on the news. I've seen traps (on tv docs, not for real) made from wires where the leg gets caught, but this one was an old-fashioned spring iron trap like you would see in western movies or cartoons, that buries it spikes into the animal's leg. Damn painful and rightfully forbidden in many countries for cruelty. So this old guy got too close to the trapped bear who rightfully jumped on him and the guy bled to death from his wounds.

Watching in monkeys in parks, e.g. enclosures, is not their "Natural enviroment"! And it is also not natural for them to bathe in hot Onsens, otherwise a lot of Onsen on the countryside would'nt be able to offer outdoor baths for their human guests. My favourite one is the Kamoshika, Serow, for their cute looks, being usually alone in the wild, and their calm behaviour. They are related to cows, hence not running away until really neccessary.

It goes around it, not up it

I went to Swiss once and boy do they have cable cars and all that stuff..! One remote village's only access to the outside world below was a cable car, because even maintaining a railroad track costs way more than that. As such I would think the same about Mt Fuji: unless they are planning to use the road that runs up to the 5th station, it would be crazy to do bc of construction costs and maintaining. Not to mention cutting through the forrest.

...or you could get 2-3 sets of the LEGO flower series and be creative all year round ;-)

This was made to compete with the dog statue in Shibuya. It will become the next big meeting point in Tokyo.

My first thought as well, but upon closer look there is lots of greenery and shrubs around it as if to prevent any congestion or , god forbid, touching or stroking the Kawaii Penguin!

Kudos to the weekly magazines for reporting on yet another power/*sexual harassment by a person too big to touch. Also with a famous and powerful father he was probably brought up in a world where this was ok and didn't get the message that things have changed, even in Japan. And blaming it on his parents would be one reason why he would kill them before himself

Nice of them to offer short works for your spare time, I actually do that already, gig job without any social benefits, seasonal up and downs etc. It also pays about 10.000 Yen for 2hours, of which less than half is hard work. Can any hotel offer me similar plans?

I live in Karuizawa, once known for it's beautiful greenery (now mostly for its big Outlet shopping center). The former mayor who was finally ousted this year, encouraged the development of many 2-story condominium buildings, changing the forresty atmosphere and also the building of big hotels. One company is right now constructing 3 (!) hotels in different corners with the most cruel one right at the Ginza Shopping street, across the oldest surviving Ryokan, with the design of an ugly business hotel, maxed out spaces, hardly any parking for guests and of course no regards for the surroundings. I hope Kyoto doesn't slither down this path, it is like a Pandora's box, once opened it is difficult to control, bc concerend citizens are usually the last ones to know about ongoing projects and it becomes a huge task to stop anything. And that is even before thinking about how the high buildings might affect air circulation in summer which is already awful with the ongoing climate disaster.

If it's a store with a self egister, it would be very to easy to say for the clerk, bc they really don't handle any money anymore themselves, and they could even say they cannot open the automatic register, only the mananger can. So, it's not that surprising to see the robber give up that easily.

Nicd and good if Mt Fuji is following this thought up scenario. With lots of experience from other volcanic tremblors and eruptions and with lots of sensors around, there should be enough time before the main eruption hits. But I would imagine it taking too long time after the first warnings and everybody settles down again...A big questionmark is the weather: during strong rain, nobody wants to walk, plus mudflows would be much faster, but still deadly. And then there is the ash flow, tiny particles that get into every air conditioning unit and clogging up drains and water filters when mixed with rain...

38.000 runners, but only about 2 dozen wheel-chair athletes is rather pitiful for a World Marathon Majors event. And sadly not a single mention in this article ...