Japanese Events

[RichardFromMarple]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Why did the US bomb Nagasaki, and so soon after Hiroshima?

https://twitter.com/wellerstein/stat...99358650499072

Maybe because the Japanese didn't surrender after Hiroshima bomb, & wanted to show it wasn't a one-off event?

[SeijiSensei]

There was supposed to be a longer lag between the two bombs to give the Japanese time to react. But for a variety of reasons that period was shortened to just three days. Wellerstein's blog post on Nagasaki is also worth reading.

[Key Board]

they didn't want Japan to surrender to Russia
it was a warning for both Japan and Russia

[Kakurin]

In the end I doubt that any of the atomic bombings had a material effect on the surrender decision other than providing those on the fence with a "convenient" excuse in the form of "let's surrender before our civilization gets wiped off the face of the planet". Japanese cities were already getting eradicated by the firebombings beginning in the second half of 1944. More important to those on the fence was the war entry of the Soviet Union. None of them had any interest in risking the polity getting partitioned like Germany was.

[SeijiSensei]

Another informative thread from Wellerstein on Truman's preemption of further use of atomic weapons after the Nagasaki bombing. One consequence of this decision was that the military could not use nuclear weapons in Korea, something many of them wanted to do.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...994439680.html

[SeijiSensei]

Tokyo tops the Economist's Safe Cities Index for the third year in a row. Osaka is third. Singapore placed second, and Amsterdam and Sydney round out the top five. The only US city in the top-ten is Washington, DC, ranked seventh.

https://safecities.economist.com/wp-...-19-screen.pdf

The index does not simply measure crime or personal endangerment, but "digital," "infrastructure," and "health" security as well. Osaka and Tokyo topped the list on health followed by Seoul. The article mentions that some indicators like available hospital beds might reflect cultural differences. The OECD data on hospitalization stays certainly shows those.

Only sixty cities across the globe were evaluated for these measures. Dallas, for instance, is included, but Boston and Miami are not.

[SeijiSensei]

Scientists unearth a new dinosaur species on Hokkaido.

A new kind of duck-billed dinosaur has been discovered in Japan.

The largest dinosaur skeleton ever found in the country was hiding underneath 72 million-year-old marine deposits in the town of Mukawa, according to Hokkaido University.

First, part of the dinosaur's tail was discovered during a joint excavation carried out by the Hobetsu Museum and Hokkaido University Museum in 2013.

Subsequent excavations unearthed a nearly complete dinosaur skeleton, described in a study published in Scientific Reports. It belongs to a new genus and species of a herbivorous hadrosaurid dinosaur, the university said in a news release.

Scientists named the dinosaur "Kamuysaurus japonicus." The name comes from "kamuy," the word for diety in Ainu, the language of the indigenous people of northern Japan; "saurus," meaning reptile in Latin; and "japonicus" for Japan.

Though the excavations began in 2013, the scientific paper referenced above was just published.

More likely a gray kamuy than a golden one.

[Toukairin]

In other words and based on that article from Nature, they unearthed something that looks quite like an Iguanodon.

[Toukairin]

This is really sickening. The govevrnment must be full of useless wankers for being unable to solve something that should have been solved by new laws ages ago. You would expect that from countries like Iran or the Middle East, but not Japan.

Anger mounts in Japan over 'outdated' rape laws

A court ruled the father had sexually abused his child from around the age 13 to 19 and even acknowledged he was violent when she resisted, but he was acquitted because the law requires prosecutors to prove there was overwhelming force, a threat, or that the victim was completely incapacitated.

What should happen until politicians wake up to the reality of rape that must be punished? That the victim chooses to kill her aggressor in bloody retaliation? Do me a favour...

[Toukairin]

If anyone is currently watching the Rugby World Cup, you will probably be delighted to know that Japan have defeated heavy tournament favorites, Ireland. Around the 21st minute, Japan were losing 3-12 against Ireland. But then they hung on and scored 2 penalties (3-point kicks) to narrow the margin until they took the lead on a try (similar in some ways to a touchdown in American football, but worth 5 points only before a 2-point conversion kick attempt afterwards) in the 59th minute by winger Kenki Fukuoka. before the tournament started, Ireland were number 1 in world rankings, just ahead of New Zealand.

Highlights.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/32IVcdoaNKY

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Four years ago, the Brave Blossoms defeated South Africa 34-32 in what has been named since as The Brighton Miracle when Karne Hesketh scored the game-winning try on the very last action of the match, well beyond the 80:00 mark on the clock. Now when you think about that result then and now today's astonishing result against Ireland, we have to say that Japan is becoming the real deal as a new top tier team in rugby union.

[SeijiSensei]

BBC hosted this discussion about Japan's future.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csz0tb

[Toukairin]

Two major news in Japan today. First, the bad news is the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis that has lashed Tokyo and other areas in central, eastern, and northeastern regions. The casualty toll has counted at least 33 dead, 19 missing, and over 100 injured in what was the most powerful typhoon in 60 years.

The article from Japan Today includes photos that can show you the extent of the flooding in various regions. Nagano was hit particularly hard. There were 56 landslides counted in 15 prefectures, 376,000 homes were without electricity, 14,000 homes with no running water, and some places had 5-metre tall water levels.

The Canadian rugby team participated in cleanup efforts in Kamaishi after their final game was cancelled because of the typhoon.

In more rejoicing news, the Japanese rugby team booked their ticket in the quarterfinals as group winners following a 28-21 win over Scotland in what was the final group match of the tournament. Japan becomes the first Asian nation to make the quarterfinals in the history of the Rugby World Cup. Kenki Fukuoka, who is set to retire after the tournament to pursue medical studies, scored 2 tries, including what proved to be the eventual game-winning try.

Highlights:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/eZA0AnSdbBI

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After the match, the New Zealand-born Brave Blossoms captain, Michael Leitch, commented after the match that it was "more than just a game for us". Leitch paid tribute to all the staff who worked in the last 24 hours to prepare the match despite tragedy and disaster: "And to everyone that's suffering at the moment with the typhoon, this game was all for you guys."

[SeijiSensei]

YouTube

https://youtu.be/4kWSg0V8nYY

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[SeijiSensei]

Warning: parody from The Onion

Tokyo Drivers Gridlocked As 12-Legged Catbus Overturns On Highway

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https://www.theonion.com/tokyo-drive...rns-1840414881

[T]raffic safety officer Yuki Nakamura, 34, ... said the incident occurred when a tabby bus conveying two little girls, the feline driver/bus entity itself, and several unnamed spirits attempted to circumvent traffic by bouncing off nearby power lines like a trampoline, misjudged its leap badly, and tumbled onto the roadway below at high speeds.

Poor catbus! At least it's still grinning.

[Toukairin]

Dunno what to make of this. The nerve in that SOB.

Ghosn, in Lebanon, says he left Japan to avoid 'injustice and political persecution'

In my very own opinion about this, that's a prime example of a scumbag using money to bribe his way out. Worse, it looks like the Japanese chose to let the bastard flee the country rather than drag everything in front of a court of law that would have taken down dozens of Japanese Nissan executives and probably a number of government officials. If that is the case, it would be extremely discouraging to think that Japanese laws don't do a better job at taking crooks into the slammer.

And seriously, who cares about ramifications of a full-fledged trial? If heads have to roll, so be it. Other rival car companies in Japan can always feed off the carcass of Nissan if that's the hypothetical outcome of a trial. If a government has to fall because of a scandal, so be it. Nothing than stirring up shit once in a while to force deep changes.

[SeijiSensei]

From today's Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...assment-japan/

Given the recent turmoil in Hong Kong, one might expect banks, trading companies and consultancies headquartered to be giving Tokyo, Osaka or Fukuoka a fresh look. Yet Japan isn’t getting the attention Abe might have hoped. Nor have there been many splashy corporate bids for Japan Inc. names from overseas.

Blame Tokyo’s notorious bureaucracy, rigid labor laws and high taxes. Blame strict immigration standards and an aversion to allowing English to infiltrate the political and corporate establishment. But also blame an economic system that isn’t as ready for global prime time as Abe’s boosters like to argue.

[SeijiSensei]

Japan's GDP fell over six percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 after the Abe government increased the consumption tax from 8% to 10% on October 1st. Economic growth was already slowing during 2019; the consumption tax increase seems to have kicked it over a cliff.

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[Guardian Enzo]

What a disaster he is as PM.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

What a disaster he is as PM.

His response to the coronavirus is even more disastrous TBH....At this rate everyone has to lock themselves at home like a hikkikomori in order to stay safe

[Guardian Enzo]

I would lose my job if I did that...