getting our name on the map.

between the pedophile child killer dude from last year and the kill to "protect my child" mom from last week, gaijin are not really garnering trust from the locals. Far from being the only child killers, they actually fit the mold for murders in japan, which seem to be disproportionately directed at children as compared with other developed countries.

I don't know how it can be anything other than a matter of national attitudes toward children that inspires this stuff. I also don't know how on earth you can inspire the young people to have children when the murder and maiming of them is so common (or at least so commonly the focus of the news).

To catch up on the news a bit, I read the last 5 days of editorials from Yomiuri, and read about no less than 13 children killed either intentionally or by drunk drivers.

Speaking of which, twice last year very drunk drivers crashed into groups of children in Japan, both times killing a few. Both drivers got 20 year sentences. The editorial stressed that these (overly) harsh sentences will be a warning to potential drunk drivers. But if the twice repeated prospect of killing multiple children with your car doesn't keep you from getting behind the wheel wasted, god knows what will.