Russia building new military bases on islands claimed by Japan Russia has begun building two modern military compounds on the far eastern Kuril islands, defence minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday, heightening long-running tensions with Japan over the disputed islands. Russia is "actively carr...

Public support for Japan's Abe rebounds after security law: polls Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has rebounded since his government rammed through unpopular security legislation, according to polls published Monday, as he re-focuses on the struggling economy. In September, pa...

Tokyo noodle shop awarded world's first ramen Michelin star A tiny Tokyo noodle shop joined the ranks of the world's top restaurants Tuesday as it scooped up a star from the respected Michelin Guide. The food bible gave a nod to nine-seat Tsuta -- a first for a ramen eatery -- as Tokyo also kept it...

Though if Take is right and he grew up in the US, his English may actually be quite fluent It also depends one when he was there. I used to know a Japanese girl who spent a big chunk of her childhood in the US but came back to Japan before junior high and never really used English again. When I use...

Another one that had me power-facepalming not long ago was a news spot on a "safety" event that the the police had held for pre-schoolers or first-graders or thereabouts, where they had somehow roped a black guy into playing the role of child-abductor/molester, using him in little play si...

I prefer my rape to be hot and sweaty.

I'm talking about stand up and stand up only. If you're talking about sketch comedy, that's a different conversation. Some stand up does include goofy characters, music, props, puppets, etc. and it almost always sucks. I've never seen any Kiwi stand up comedy and the only South African I'm aware of ...

Filial piety at its best ... Son Uses Parents As Makeshift Traffic Cones To Hold His Parking Space A businessman in China is using his parents as traffic cones so he doesn’t lose his parking space. The two elderly parents have been pictured sitting on the road in the city of Nanjing, the capital of ...

Saying one sucks and the other one blows is just a matter of taste and tradition. It is equally easy to say that standing on a bare stage with just a microphone is unsophisticated. Why do I have to come to this comedy club for this person to just stand there and tell a funny story? I might as well ...

Coligny wrote:Were do you find the strenght to follow this kind of news...

I don't. It pops up in my Yahoo News feed.

A comic act, a character being played, is much more valued Exactly. Which is why it sucks. Goofy characters and musical acts. It's like American comedy 50+ years ago or Japanese comedy now. In other words, unsophisticated. That's funny because the Brits tend to pride themselves on having such sharp...

Japan's Biggest Talent Agency Gets Caught Up in Yakuza Insurance Fraud At least 10 comedians from Yoshimoto Kogyo, Japan's biggest talent agency, have been caught up in a scheme by a yakuza gangster that defrauded Japan's public health insurance system of at least $1 million (￥120 million). By far ...

There's a culture gap as well - a whole different approach to comedy. A lot of British comedy has never done well in the US. It's not to everyone's taste - never has been. Stephen Fry lays out the contrast very well: f_Icu7fn_XA Interesting but I'm talking specifically about stand up which is very ...

I've heard a number of North American comedians say stand up in the UK is awful overall. I'm sure the reverse assertion is also true. Divided by a common language and all that. It's not. A lot of American and Canadian stand ups do well in the UK but the reverse isn't true. I'm not talking about the...

Wage Slave wrote:And what is it about insulating and heating buildings properly that Japan refuses to understand?

Exactly. Whenever I see "innovations" like this is just reminds me how poorly designed so many Japanese buildings are.

I've heard a number of North American comedians say stand up in the UK is awful overall. This would support that claim. Americans and Canadians are definitely better at it.

I guess with that setup, it's not to bad for you. How big is the monthly cap? Good question. I think I only hit it once when I was stuck at home with the flu bored out of my mind binge watching American dorama . Plus I can always tether my laptop to my iPhone (also paid for by the company) if the w...

The older I get the less I like the idea of zoos in general but Japanese zoos really are fucking awful. I won't name the zoo but I know a dude that owns one here and I've seen some nightmarish shit on the not so public side. In particular, are fucking huuuuge ass bear in a cage barely big enough fo...

"DVD"? Are you like, an old person or something? I don't use any streaming services because my company pays for my wi-fi and it has a monthly data cap. Fair enough. Gift horse, not looking in mouth, and all that. Free is good but a wifi monthly cap is pretty lame It really doesn't affect ...

The older I get the less I like the idea of zoos in general but Japanese zoos really are fucking awful.

yanpa wrote:"DVD"? Are you like, an old person or something?

I don't use any streaming services because my company pays for my wi-fi and it has a monthly data cap.

More confusing censorship. I just watched the movie Lovelace on DVD. Of course there are a couple of oral sex scenes which this being a major Hollywood movie consisted of the back of someone's head bobbing up and down in front of a crotch obscuring the real action. I'm sure there were no genitals or...

Never heard of bath tissue I never really heard it either...."TP" or "toilet paper" but then the Costco TP says bath tissue on it....maybe it's a regional thing? I'll post a photo. Saw it in a supermarket (Safeway) in Oregon, presumably as a euphemism for arse-wipe paper. Costco...

Never heard of bath tissue but I'm surprised WC was not known to matsuki. It's not used in the US but I would think most people know what it means. Or maybe I just have superior knowledge of all things toilet related.

How about if walkers gave standers the right of way so to speak? In other words don't walk if you can't do it without inconveniencing those who choose to stand.

For some reason this feels like the right thread for this video.

Coligny wrote:French ... without th3 ghey

That's what you call an oxymoron.

So a bit of nod, wink, don't ask, don't tell going on methinks. On top of all that, even if you are required to produce the paperwork showing that you actually have formally renounced, many countries grant an indefinite right to reclaim. Or a pragmatic realisation that laws against dual citizenship...

Japaneeeeeeze Sutaaaairu! (chuuuuuugoku mitai) I was thinking how American it was. Different issue, no? Individual independent contractor provided safety equipment vs. quality control when sub-sub-sub-sub contracting Anyhow, while this type of sub-sub-sub trouble happens everywhere (especially Chin...