What makes you think he was working in a foreign environment? Given that he’s obviously fluent in Japanese, he’s probably a Zainichi Korean, born in Japan, like millions of others. Dude’s a Kyoto University grad.

Everything is not going to be in focus at f8, especially for medium-longer lenses. With a wide angle, yes, it is the case.

I guess I am pretty in lucky in that my company totally understands that I do NOT check my email after working hours, generally, and if there is some sort of actual emergency (HSE or some bonafide emergecy) they can call my personal number. And they haven’t - except twice for natural disaster, and twice when a…

You do realize companies hire temps as a way to subvert labor laws, right?

No, not really. Nippon Ham is the sponsor, the team name is Fighters.

It’s an old passport, and numbers change when you renew, so no real privacy issue.

(i liked the english patient)

Ushiku Daibutsu!

That’s not far off Viciedo’s MLB numbers, you know. A bit higher, but not obscenely so.

He’s officially listed as Otani on the NPB site.

There’s still PLENTY of room to slip through a JR platform gap. I did exactly that in Chiba in 2009, turned around to say bye to my friend and stepped right in.

The girl whose post those pictures come from wasn’t even born in the same millennium as WWII. There’s a good chance her grandfather wasn’t even born when the war ended. What do you expect?

Terribly elitist.

I get media access all the time for multiple teams. Not so hard. I’m a serious hobbyist writer/photographer, though (run several blogs).

You can sell beer in cans, just have the vendor pour it in a cup first. Easy, safe.

Who said anything about western? Nobody cares about the rising sun flag in the rest of Asia either, just in Korea and China. I’m not saying that’s not relevant, but it’s hardly the universal symbol of hate that the Nazi swastika is.

Malick and Linklater are both Texan, Bastrop is a convenient location for both Austin and Houston.

It’s not even remotely offensive outside of the Koreas and China.

Me too. I was on the way out of the door as a fan due to all the corruption and tolerance of violence in the first place, that just kicked me out the door so hard I can’t even stand to watch highlights.

They are. A lot of people wear clear UV blockers when doing outdoor stuff if they don’t need to actually reduce bright light. Clear car glass is UV cut.