Japan

[Anaxagoras]

What power does this restaurant association have exactly?

Some kind of Japanese Better Business Bureau?

[shuize]

This will probably come as surprise, but I don’t think the Osaka red light district’s “restaurants” are really “restaurants” after all. (Ha! Ha!)

But I’ve heard, in order to play by the rules, there is actually some sort of snack item (senbei crackers, I think) given as soon as the customer goes upstairs. What happens between the “waitress” and the customer is between two consenting adults caught up in the heat of the moment. The crackers just happen to be really expensive. (Ha! Ha!)

As to what authority the association has over members, I don’t know exactly. But apparently it’s enough to make a mandatory “voluntary” shut down order stick. I suspect they are self-governing and have the power to expel “restaurants” from their specially approved historic “restaurant” association.* No doubt the mafia is also involved.

Speaking of mafia, I also heard there’s always mafia muscle within earshot whenever the girls are upstairs with customers.

* I walked through the area with a friend once years ago. It really is very traditional looking. Had a few drinks in a bar in the neighborhood and talked to the mama-san and an old guy who were happy to talk about how things worked—the sources for a lot of my information above— we even talked to some of the real mama-san managers sitting out in front of the “restaurants.” The working girls “waitresses” were often sitting just a few feet away. They were very attractive. Not at all what I thought brothel prostitutes “waitresses” would look like. But I didn’t order any senbei. I was married at the time and I am rather foolishly faithful.

[ed]

This will probably come as surprise, but I don’t think the Osaka red light district’s “restaurants” are really “restaurants” after all. (Ha! Ha!)

But I’ve heard, in order to play by the rules, there is actually some sort of snack item (senbei crackers, I think) given as soon as the customer goes upstairs. What happens between the “waitress” and the customer is between two consenting adults caught up in the heat of the moment. The crackers just happen to be really expensive. (Ha! Ha!)

snip

Students. Please listen up.

I am providing you with an example of what we call in the legal profession "Nervous laughter". I have highlighted the examples for those on the short bus.

[Anaxagoras]

Well, as long as they are only paying for the crackers, what's the problem?

This is how it's done in Japan.

Gambling is theoretically illegal too, but there's pachinko parlors. They don't give you cash if you win, but only "prizes" which can be resold for cash at a separate "shop" a few meters away.

[shuize]

This will probably come as surprise, but I don’t think the Osaka red light district’s “restaurants” are really “restaurants” after all. (Ha! Ha!)

But I’ve heard, in order to play by the rules, there is actually some sort of snack item (senbei crackers, I think) given as soon as the customer goes upstairs. What happens between the “waitress” and the customer is between two consenting adults caught up in the heat of the moment. The crackers just happen to be really expensive. (Ha! Ha!)

snip

Students. Please listen up.

I am providing you with an example of what we call in the legal profession "Nervous laughter". I have highlighted the examples for those on the short bus.

[Witness]

Kono tells all Japan government offices to quit 'hanko' stamps

Reform minister demands explanations from stragglers

TOKYO -- Japan's minister for administrative reform on Thursday ordered all national government offices to stop requiring hanko stamps on official documents as a rule.

These stamps are used widely across Japan by government agencies, businesses and individuals in lieu of signatures. But their use has been a major obstacle to the spread of digital forms and teleworking, an issue only highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Minister Taro Kono, in a letter distributed by the Cabinet Office, told each ministry to respond as to whether they will scrap requirements for a hanko seal, consider ending the requirement or consider continuing the use of the seals.

Those that continue requiring hanko seals on any forms will need to explain the decision by the end of September.

Digitizing the government is one of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's top policy priorities. Kono had called for abolishing hanko-stamping requirements in a cabinet-level meeting on Thursday.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japan- ... nko-stamps

[Doctor X]

Sadako Yamamura's First Victim

– J.D.

[shuize]

Sadako Yamamura's First Victim

– J.D.

I don't follow the Japanese entertainment industry very closely, but my girlfriend tells me this is a big deal.

[Anaxagoras]

Very sad and hard to understand. She has two kids, one of which is less than a year old.

[shuize]

Very sad and hard to understand. She has two kids, one of which is less than a year old.

My guess is post-partum depression.

My ex-wife never really got over it.

Well, she never got over it until she moved back with her parents and they finally told her to get off her ass and go to work.*


* It doesn't bother me as much as it used to. But I can still get pissed off when I remember how her family, especially my ex-mother-in-law, thought I was the biggest asshole on the planet for suggesting my ex- might benefit by getting out of the house and working part-time a couple days a week. No, better that she throw away our family's future together so that my ex- can now work a shitty full-time job in a elderly care center with several days a week involving hard overnight shifts for crappy pay -- a large percentage of which I'm sure gets handed over to my ex-mother-in-law.

[Witness]

Japan logs sharp rise in renewable energy output amid pandemic

Renewable energy production spiked so dramatically in the first half of 2020 that its contribution to Japan’s overall energy generation is currently in line with the government’s 2030 target, new preliminary figures show.

But one of the factors behind the rapid rise in the proportion of renewable power generation is that overall energy production in the first six months of the year fell due to a decline in demand brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Experts said if the trend continues, it could kick-start debate over whether the government should raise its target for renewable energy, given the various efforts already being made around Japan to convert to renewable sources.

Renewable energy accounted for 23.1 percent of Japan’s total energy generation mix in the first half of 2020, according to provisional figures compiled by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The government had set a target of it reaching between 22 to 24 percent by fiscal 2030.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13759257

[Anaxagoras]

I'd be more interested in how much fossil fuel consumption was reduced.

[Witness]

Suga takes flak for keeping government critics off science panel

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga faced backlash Friday after he decided not to appoint academics who have been critical of the nation’s security and anti-conspiracy legislation to a science council that makes policy recommendations to the government.

Takaaki Kajita, 61, who was selected Thursday to head the Science Council of Japan (SCJ), suggested at the council’s general meeting Friday submitting a letter of request to the prime minister asking him to make clear the reasons for the rejection and appoint the six nominees.

It is the first time since the current nomination system was introduced in 2004 that the council’s nominees to join the body were rejected.

Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii highlighted the unprecedented move during a news conference on Thursday. The rejection was first reported by the JCP’s newspaper, Akahata.

A law on the SCJ stipulates that the council nominate new members, who are appointed by the prime minister.

“The rejection of the nominations is against the SCJ law, and is unconstitutional as it violates academic freedom guaranteed under Article 23 of the Constitution,” Shii said, demanding the prime minister revoke the decision.

“We cannot overlook this if there was political intent, such as using (scientists’) stances against certain bills to determine” appointments, said Jun Azumi, parliamentary affairs chief of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

CDP leader Yukio Edano, Shii and two other heads of opposition parties agreed Thursday to grill the prime minister over the issue.

Of the six nominees, Ryuichi Ozawa, professor at the School of Medicine at Jikei University; Masanori Okada, professor at the Graduate School of Law at Waseda University; and Takaaki Matsumiya, professor at the School of Law at Ritsumeikan University, released a joint statement Thursday urging the council to make full efforts to reverse the prime minister’s rejection.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/ ... e-council/

[Anaxagoras]

[Witness]

Japanese theme park unveils 'life-size' Godzilla attraction



A Japanese theme park has unveiled what it believes is the world's first permanent "life-size" Godzilla statue.

The installation on Awaji Island, off the city of Kobe, measures 23m (75ft) and offers visitors the chance to ride a zip line right into Godzilla's mouth.

The beast's colossal size is one of its biggest draws and movie-goers have noted a growth spurt over the years.

Godzilla was originally 50m tall but shot to 120m in last year's movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

One self-described die-hard fan from Taiwan documented the changing size of the on-screen beast, in a picture published in Newsweek magazine.


Link to HiRez pic

While the new attraction on Awaji island is smaller than the film versions, it is bigger than other off screen incarnations. The famous Godzilla head on the Toho Building in Tokyo, by comparison, is only about 12m tall.

"As far as we know, this is the only life-size Godzilla statue ever built," said a spokesperson for Pasona Group, the recruitment company operating Nijigen no Mori Park.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54474268

[shuize]

Lest anyone think it's all sweetness and light in Japan.

アイスを食べた生徒を暴行 中学教師を逮捕

Loose translation: Teacher arrested for violence against junior high school student [breaking bones] for eating his ice cream

Link to Japanese article: https://www.msn.com/ja-jp/news/national ... d=msedgntp

[Hotarubi]

Lest anyone think it's all sweetness and light in Japan.

アイスを食べた生徒を暴行 中学教師を逮捕

Loose translation: Teacher arrested for violence against junior high school student [breaking bones] for eating his ice cream

Link to Japanese article: https://www.msn.com/ja-jp/news/national ... d=msedgntp

It's MSN. So it must be fake news.

[ed]

Japanese theme park unveils 'life-size' Godzilla attraction

Now we're talking

[Witness]

[sparks]

Be a lot easier to just pull a 9mm on these shitheads and end them.

See some shit going down? Kill the perp. With a hollow point. No surgery necessary. DOA.