Comments on: Late night beers and cup noodles – The latest casualties in the fight against global warming

By: Ted

Ted — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:11:13 +0000

Those are all very good points.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:14:21 +0000

Well, I’m アジア系, and my eyes are pretty dark brown, so the dark vs. light eye color argument doesn’t hold up for me. I agree that the sunlight here is harsh compared to where I’m from (NE U.S.!), so maybe people who grew up here have adapted to it.

By: Zaciroth

Zaciroth — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:04:50 +0000

I love japan….but its sad they are all wrapped up in this global warming bullshit.

By: AD

AD — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:23:52 +0000

Everything in a conbini is wrapped in at least two pieces of plastic. How about not throwing chopsticks, mini-spoons, forks, and napkins wrapped in more plastic into my bag while I’m fishing for change?

If Japan would stop with the double, triple and quadruple wrappings emissions could be cut DRASTICALLY. Stop wrapping fruit in plastic and styrofoam. Stop putting cookies into individuals bags and then into a bag and then into a box wrapped in plastic.

By: Level3

Level3 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:43:40 +0000

So, it’s official, there are no engineers advising the environmentalists in governments. Just a bunch of cranky old people who wake up at 5AM each morning and go to bed at sundown, uable to conceive that the world has gone 24-hour. They want to target/control the combinis, because they have a grudge, since conbinis killed off most of the small mom and pop grocery stores they feel nostalgic for.

Probably the biggest source of energy consumption in a conbini is the refrigetators and the HVAC system.
Requiring combinis to keep outside doors closed and not crank the AC to 20 degrees all summer long would be a real way to cut down on energy. Or even install clear plastic flaps over the refrigerated displays that just wastefully spill cold air onto the floor 24 hours a day.

24-hour conbinis are essential, not only for shopping, but also, in this age of unstaffed koban and do-nothing cops, as a kind of 24-hour refuge where you can find at least another human being who is prbably more likely to help you than a Koban Keystone.

By: kabocha5000

kabocha5000 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:15:39 +0000

Yeah, I know what you mean. I find the sunlight in this region to be incredibly bright (I’m from NW U.S.) but I notice Japanese don’t seem to mind.

I guess all those (white) gaijin wearing sunglasses aren’t just trying to look cool.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:07:17 +0000

Dark eyes absorb more light, causing less reflection scatter where light is received in the eye. Basically, that means that the Japanese majority with their dark brown eyes perceive rooms to be darker than people with light-brown, green, gray, hazel, or blue eyes.

Having green eyes myself, I also find myself squinting outside much more than the average Japanese person, and I prefer natural soft-yellow lighting indoors, whereas many Japanese guests complain that it is “dark”.

By: Pamela

Pamela — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:14:25 +0000

before thinking about cutting back open hours, how about reducing the number of lights inside in the first place? even in the middle of day all those conbinis/drug stores are BLINDINGLY bright inside with excessive lighting. (i’m looking at you (with my hand shading my eyes), daikoku!)

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:21:49 +0000

Why don’t they start by actually regulating the dirty ass pitch-black exhaust that big-wheelers spew out? I can’t believe some of these trucks being permitted to operate. What’s all that shaken business about?!

By: shazzb0t

shazzb0t — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:50:34 +0000

GAIJIN AGAINST COMBINI CLOSURES! FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO MIDNIGHT CHU HI!

By: me

me — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:23:21 +0000

Idiotic idea. I hope this doesn’t come to reality.

By: kabocha5000

kabocha5000 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:53:05 +0000

This will surely make combinis less combini-ent.

By: Ted

Ted — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:57:09 +0000

If you think that this is a silly idea you may wish to look at Japan`s rather substantial subsidised rice surplus (currently 1.5 million tons*) and consider how much CO2 was involved in its production.

*Source: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/rc20001011a3.htm

By: Neil Duckett

Neil Duckett — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:01:47 +0000

Ridiculous idea.

By: shazzb0t

shazzb0t — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:39:48 +0000

This is a foolish idea. Japan will lay itself bare in order to curb emissions, but the fact remains that the rest of the world doesn’t give a rats ass about Kyoto.

By: Vonskippy

Vonskippy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:42:10 +0000

Better yet, shutdown the stupid government offices – besides saving energy, think of all the hot air it will eliminate.

By: ダビ

ダビ — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:35:46 +0000

This is retarded. Hands off our combinis!