I used to be an ALT at a few Japanese junior high schools and elementary schools. Whenever flu season came around, the teachers would keep track of how many students were sick or showing signs of the flu and cancel classes accordingly. This did not mean shutting down the school, but rather having all the students come to school as usual in the morning and then either immediately dismissing them or having a class or two before dismissing them. Such classes, like most other classes in winter, would be held in classrooms lacking adequate heating. Students and teachers were not permitted to wear coats in class. I was told that class cancellations were necessary to prevent the spread of the flu. Apparently attendance rates were taken seriously, so many students would come to school sick. It was also very rare for sick teachers to actually take days off. Many wore masks to protect themselves with sick students and teachers. Needless to say, their anti-flu tactics didn't seem to prevent the flu from spreading around to most classes. If a serious strain of flu does hit Japan, I hope that the government acts quickly and forces schools to shut down.

I've never disliked Dave Spector. If anything I'm envious of his Japanese skills. He is an odd character, but I'd say any hate for him is probably seeded in the hater's issues with their status as a foreigner in Japan. That's my armchair psychologist take on the subject.

Interesting article. I'd never heard of him but it never occurred to me to "hate" someone entertaining on television. If I don't like the content of their performance that's another thing but would be based on that, not that they are a foreigner. On the other hand I do lose respect for all those foreign actors who do ads here that wouldn't do them in the US - can't bear a hypocrite.

I have never had any hate for the guy. Actually, I have always thought it was kind of cool that he can do the news on TV in Japan. My gal thinks he is cool.

I was there yesterday. It really is a great place. Damn shame that it is closing its doors. I was talking to Jack(owner of Jack`s) and asked him why they are closing down. He said that the rent has been double and they cannot afford it anymore. Although, there are a few parties planned to give Love me Tender a proper send off.

Wow - the statue of liberty one might be mine. Ha ha. I took a whole series of shots through the 1 cutout sign with the sky the same color when I visited over spring break of 2006. (Then again, it could be from anyone else who took the same shots. I must have 30-odd versions of it. Hmmm.)

It's the infotainment hair and the voice affectations. Have never met him. But I do keep hearing he's a nice guy. (Maybe he is disliked in part because of those allegations regarding his US resume)

If you still want to read (it is a good article!) try: http://news.google.com/news?q=Japan%E2%80%99s%20adopted%20talking%20heads And pick the first link...

Follow these instructions: http://www.bugmenot.com/view/ft.com

Nope - it wants me to register too... :-/

I am really inconsistent in this, honestly. It bugs me - but I tend to include the suffixes when giving my address to people, and to exclude the suffixes when using an online shopping site. I don't know why. I'm a freak, what can I say? :-)

Darn, I got it for free from News on Japan. Does this work for you? http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/593c8956-b71c-11dd-8e01-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1 If so, please change the URL, thanks!

Good points he's raised there. Let me ask you though, when you write your address in romaji (e.g. for an online shopping site), do you add -shi, -ken, etc. or leave theme off? Personally, I've started leaving them off.

Registered users only. :???: [Nick clicks "broken link" alert]

I can't use E-Mobile in my area. I am in that really small percent of the country that gets zero coverage - for nearly every available service. Grrrr. But I bought an Eee PC recently anyway - totally makes sense for me. Should get here soon. Can't wait. :-)

I got my Eee PC mini notebook computer using a similar e-mobile promotion. So far I've been satisfied with e-mobile's speed and quality of service.

Hmm yes - it's that data package that I'm sure will get the customer. Come Spring and the better weather (till Summer lol) I might give it a though. Till then I'm gong to see if I can rebuild my old tablet in any way and maybe find a new battery to see if I can get it detached from a plug in the wall lol!

That Andy Warhol dude is seriously bad-ass.

Yes, sorry, didn't realize the submitter (uktokyoite) was not the author as well. I added my above comment directly to the comments on the linked article. Didn't think my above comment was more than just wanting to set the record straight either.

I got it - sorry sometimes I'm a little slow. Honestly jcolling3k I didn't realize that the blogger hadn't taken these photos - I just kind of assumed they did -that's why I soc'd it. I love good photos and perhaps I am rather naive - I really didn't think you would post those if you hadn't taken them yourself - I wouldn't. Anyways - moving forward - lesson learned for me. Thanks Nick for clarifying for me - and I'll stay on Japan in future. They just really struck me when I was looking through my channel. Gomen ne jcollin3k - I will know in future to check whether the blogger has given acknowledgment. Thanks!

As DBR said, jcollin3k's frustration should be aimed at the blogger in this case, not the submitter. You've done nothing wrong other than submit something off-topic (i.e. non-Japan). Don't worry about the "link back" stuff - that's between the blogger at curiosidadesnanet.wordpress.com and the individual photographers, nothing to do with you or JapanSoc, and I'm sure jcollin3k just made an honest mistake by thinking you compiled the photos yourself. So cheer up! :-D

Hmm, jcollin3k, it seems as though I may have misunderstood the purpose of Japan Soc? Not intentionally though if that is the case. I thought we were supposed to highlight things we found of interest - whether they are stories or pictures. I never made any claim to take the photos- that was why I said I had 'stumbled across' them. So.... if this is inappropriate then by all means I stand corrected but I will say that the intentions were good. As to the link back, I thought that came automatically by us putting the url in when we highlight the story - isn't that a link back? That's how I thought we all give credit to what we find and share. Nick-san - sorry if I have been using this wrongly - I would actually really like to know as it will tell me what I can and can't choose to submit in the future. Thanks DBR for your understanding - much appreciated.

I appreciate that you have decided to jump on anyone doing the wrong thing but perhaps you were a little overzealous here? It's not the soc-er's blog. Perhaps you should cut and paste it into a comment on the post itself ;)

Did you take all those photos? You said you only stumbled across them. So I assume you did not take them. I see no link back or credit to the original photographers. This would make me angry if one of my photos was used without a link back at the least, never mind asking for permission.

What a shame - I was looking forward to that tonight! Oh well - not meant to be. Thanks for trying Nick : )