Wow. They've had some really good ones in the past on TV but not like this. Emotions on full display and then, wham! indescribable violence. I spoke to one psychologist who advises on these types of ads here a couple of years ago and he thought because we've had so many of these kinds of messages over the last 20 years people had switched off. He thought that humour actually had a larger impact in terms of people taking on the message, and we've had more of those more recently especially around drink driving. Good for the YouTube generation too with memes being passed around. Still this one deserves some airtime. Thanks!

I don't have anything to say on the Loco part of the post...because I really don't. More importantly, I'm trying to piece together what happened to the dogs from the comments....they were ok in the end? I just got back from spending over two weeks in Rarotonga in the Cook Islandsand the thing that you notice are the wild dogs...it was great because they seemed to be well feed, and they were happy as they were swimming in paradise, and really liked humans. These dogs would be killed in our countries, but here they were happily living among the tourists and locals....everyone's pet and nobodies pet...and way more friendly than the dogs people had tied up as pets. I don't have any deeper point...it was one of the highlights of my trip.

When Google told the PRC to F* off I thought maybe they were different, but last few months in particular have told me they are no different. Anyway, hope whatever you do you document it, but I get it if you decide otherwise. Take it easy!

The conversation contest idea is so precisely what is needed in Japanese schools. Often the most interesting people/students never learn English because they can't/don't want to go through all the hassle for something they probably won't use in any practical way (except to embarrass themselves as above!). I was often given students to train for speech contests who were, while trainable, were not the ones I would have chosen based on my interactions with the kids. Despite my asking there was never any thought that I would be involved in the selection process. Anyway, I was most pleased to see the "control the conversation" idea here - I have mentioned to others over the years and they think I am weird, narscisstic (maybe true but...). It is so true though. Over the years I have convinced many people that my J-go is far better than it really is mainly by dominating the conversation. As I get better/more comfortable I listen more, but not taking a step back is important for improvement. One of the best second language learning tools is to be very very talkative. Our brains evolved the way they did not to compute things (grammar rules, remember streams of vocab) but to engage in social interaction/communication. Use them the way they are supposed to be and you will be rewarded.

I'm up to my eyeballs right now, but just wanted to say this was awesome and full of head-nodding goodness. Looking forward to ther others. I've had to advise a crap load of people around the uni here who just don't get it. How can I succeed in Japan? How can I succeed in China? Or whatever. They think taking some uni classes, a major in those languages will somehow, I dunno, get them a sweet job in those countries afterwards. It escapes them that one country has 120 million, another 1.3 billion, with excess labour. They will always be able to speak and read and write their own native languages better than you. They will work harder, longer and for less money than you. Why would worthwhile employers even think about you,? What else have you got? What else can you do? What do you bring to the table? Even if you wanted to be translator (or researcher in my case), it isn't really your Japanese skills that matter but whether you are fucking awesome at your own language. I see so many ex-JET stay on and get level 1 or whatever it's called now, and they scrape by still working at schools or low level translation firms etc (there are some exceptions of course). If they are truly happy and content, all power to them...seriously, I'm not there yet by any stretch. But I know some aren't. They don't realise the problem isn't their lack of Japanese ability, or that Japanese are discriminating against them or whatever, it is that they were pretty useless human beings in the first place. Not necessarily dumb. Just, uninspiring. They can't communicate or relate with normal human beings in their own native language....they don't know anything interesting or novel in their language...either that, or if they do have something, they are making a big mistake and pissing it away. Coming to the end of my PhD, people ask me if I will go back to Japan after. They seem taken aback when I say "maybe." First, I dunno if I am even going to continue to research on Japan after. In some ways I am a bit bored. Either way, if it is on my own terms, doing what I want, of course I will consider it...like anywhere in the world. /rant over.

"shit that has been re hashed to fucking death..buried...un buried and then beaten to death again?" I tell myself that's why I still have relatively few hits on my own blog - refusal to tap into the prevalent memes and taken for granted chestnuts and self-involved assumptions that would get a wider audience interested. Some of my material must be aching boring to some - no - most people. But if you are interested, you are. If not...so be it. I console myself with the "quality" of the audience ;-) (although my other site Japan Security Watch is putting up big numbers!) But we all need to write our own thing - there are enough mindless website clones out there "discussing" the "issues." The thing is that even if you were just to post about teaching etc, you bring so much insight and energy into what you do that it can't not be interesting. That is why I come back. I think your stuff has been getting better lately FWIW.

Fantastic, head nodding, post through and through. Girls like your student are Japan's main, maybe last, hope. This country educates females pretty well relatively speaking, and then...well everything your student already knows. Such a waste. Gender "empowerment" and getting rid of the OB networks should be a national security issue IMHO. Certainly going to make more of a difference than some islands.

I agree with Hardkoretom - you would make a good profiler. I probably wouldn't even have the awareness at the time to put two and two together and would probably accept it at face value. Do your worst!

Timely post mate. I have been feeling a similar way recently. I've long accepted that everything is BS, and the best way to be is to enjoy your own shit, whatever that is. I once thought too deeply about my surrounding to the point where getting up in the morning and interacting with people felt like I was engaging in some kind of universal game where the only prizes were, well, varying shades and piles of bullshit. I try not to go to that place these days because it isn't a happy place. The challenge I find is to "reflect" upon yourself and check the ego, without "dissociating", which teaches you nothing. The latter is so scary that I sometimes wonder if I am too timid with the former.

Who commits suicide or tries to, and who just keeps getting up day after day and soldiering on, seems to have no rhyme or reason. That much I know from experience. But I am sure single events are the catalyst rather than the cause, man. Like that British nurse who committed suicide after two Aussie DJs prank called her into revealing details about Kate Middleton - everyone was going on about how they "caused her death" etc. I'm a bit skeptical. You know this, but I doubt you "scared" him into doing this...more like you made him feel particularly helpless and humiliated that day, and it was the final straw on top of millions of other things that happened in his life. Would it have changed his destiny if you had of acted differently? Maybe...but probably only if you invested something more than a hug, I imagine. Either that, or you really are a scaring looking mofo!